


Street Savvy

by ehcanuck



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Character Death, Family, Family you Choose, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Full Cast - Freeform, Gen, Homelessness, Human AU, Human Names Used, It's Not Paranoia If They're Really Out To Get You, Minor Violence, Mutant Powers, Mutants, Non-Graphic Violence, Poverty, Protectiveness, Slow Build, Temporary Character Death, Whump, all canon characters eventually, just most are in more minor roles, more characters show up as story progresses, slight whump, slightly dark, us against the world
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-09-26
Updated: 2015-05-13
Packaged: 2017-12-27 16:24:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 67,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/981074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ehcanuck/pseuds/ehcanuck
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Feli and Lovi take to the streets after their parents murder. However, as more time passes, it becomes clear the ones responsible are after both of them and also the new 'family' they make. Just what is going on?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. They Don't Really Care About Us

**AN-** **This was inspired by Michael Jackson's song They Don't Really Care About Us.** **This will be a complete AU, centred in Paris and (possibly) around Europe. There may or may not be pairings as about 99% of the characters will be under 19.**

**Characters will be added as story progresses**

**I still don't own** **Hetalia nor the song _They Don't Really Care About Us_ , they belong to their respective owners. I own only** **my everchanging plot.**

* * *

_Those who lack imagination, cannot imagine what is lacking_

* * *

Paris is a beautiful city, rich in history, culture and ideas.

At one point, it was even considered the centre of the civilized world!

For years its inhabitants set the political and social trends that the rest of Europe would try to follow and it housed some of the greatest thinkers, affluent people and world shakers: from kings to explorers to ideas.

The Gauls and their villages were here before it became part of the great Roman Empire, (the limestone deposits proving invaluable and resulted in the beginning of the city) and then built great castles in the Medieval period, constantly warring with their neighbours. It fought in the Crusades, survived invasions from the Prussians, the English and the Germans, conquered large parts of Europe through Napoleon and became a huge colonial power.

Paris is covered by confusing mix of architecture with Gothic churches beside a Brutalist structure across from an Art Deco building. Then there are bits left behind from the time when France walked among the imperial giants, exploring and claiming foreign land for its own and its heart reflected those conquests. There are hidden artistic treasures and monuments everywhere, remnants from that conquering past, with no living owner to explain their story.

The main roads are like a spoke, stretching ever onwards into the distance from the hub while minor ones create a spider web maze for the unwary to get lost in and the narrowness of them promised easy barricades and tough resistance. These streets spoke of the long history the nation has had, now modern but everywhere echoes of gunpowder, riots, revolution and fierce ideals can be read.

Soon enough Paris shall yet again be home to another battle ground, with people just as desperate, just as angry for freedom and crying for justice. The city passes unawares, not realizing what is hiding below, there in the hidden enduring darkness where the city keeps it's heritage.

After all, like all great places, Paris was built on its bones.

* * *

Feliciano watched their house from a distance in shock; watching as hungry flames devoured it, tongues of fire reaching up towards the stars and consuming everything. Gone is the table he did his homework on, the couch they would snuggle up to watch movies on, the wall unit that his parents proudly displayed both his and his brother's artwork and awards, his mother's garden, his father's vintage comics and so many important memories with them, the fire engulfing everything, making it seem as though they never existed in the first place. Their lives erased from existence, sacrificed to the ravenous blaze.

Chancing a quick glance at his  _fratello_  beside him on the hill, the flame's light gave his face and tears new light, making him look almost ethereal in the glow. He knew that internally his precious brother, now his only known family besides their grandfather, was screaming (just as he was) but as he stood beside him, his tears could not be heard.

After all, they couldn't afford any such noises; any sound at all in fact.

He knew he didn't look much better, as he swallowed his own cries of despair and the word " _calmarsi_ " echoing over and over and his mind.

He couldn't believe that this had happened.

Just under a half hour ago, they had arrived home to find their parents running about frantically and they had had rucksacks thrust at them, packed with probably all the money they could find, some food and a change of clothes. Then the two were shoved at the secret passage in the cellar and told

" _Fuga. Stanno arrivando."_

They then heard crashes from the upstairs and sounds of their mother fighting before gunshots rang in the air and...silence. Their dad gave them one last look, as though he were memorizing their faces before he pushed them farther in and closed the hidden doors behind them.

As they obeyed and ran down the tunnel, tears silently pouring down their faces, they flinched again at the muffled shouts before a second gunshot rang out, this one much closer and was followed by the dreaded sound of a body hitting the ground. The sounds of crashes and angry shouts could still be heard as the two then fled down the tunnel but luckily the sounds of breaking down the entrance to the passage or pursuing footsteps were not.

Just a half hour and they had gone from being two normal boys in  _secondaria_  to being orphans, homeless and  _prey._

Though who was their hunter?

Who was after them and their family? They did not know but they knew that they did not want to be caught. Daring not to linger any longer, they chanced one last look at their house as the flames consumed it before taking off into the night of their home town in Venadio, Italy into the unknown. They couldn't go to a friend's house and their grandfather was nowhere near them: not only would they risk their safety by doing so but there was no guarantee that any trust given wouldn't be betrayed.

So they left. The only thing that kept them moving was some sort of draw, a pull, calling them to the North with whispered promises that they would be safe.

That was how they found themselves in Paris.

* * *

"~Veeeee. Lovino! Wait up!"

It had been a long, hard two years since the death of their parents and the burning of their home and Romano and Feliciano were now sixteen. The foreign desire calling them north, then west had all but vanished, leaving them to wander aimlessly around in the more tourist areas of the city to find whatever it was. In their time travelling and in the city of light, they had gone against anything they had ever been taught.

_Don't sleep out in the open._

_Don't talk to strangers._

_Don't eat it if it has touched any potential unclean surface._

_Don't eat it if you don't know WHAT it is._

_Don't wear dirty/ratty clothes._

_Don't steal._

Sleeping outdoors was the first rule they broke, long before they even got to France, sheltering under a bridge that first night. The rules about food were next within a month when they had no money left and stealing followed shortly thereafter. They never really bothered with their clothes before and as fall came around, they had begun wearing what they could find for a little more warmth, regardless of appearance. Talking to strangers was one of the last as it was only in the third month of arriving in France that they were more fluent in French.

By the fourth month, all of those primary rules and more were broken, all in the name of the three issues: hunger, safety and shelter. Still, even with their improving illegal skills, their clothes hung off them and though they made an effort to always look at least step above hell warmed over (it was important to their survival to not look homeless, else they get unwanted attention), they did not blend in with others their age. They still tried as, if it appeared they were street kids, people would be more suspicious as would the police and the authorities could try and put them in a home; so they would get up early to quickly bathe in a river or public bathroom in order to look as presentable as possible. The latter was more of a danger then it should be for their age but after two years of not enough food and surviving the elements, they looked a few years younger then they actually were.

But on the other hand, they were still alive and together.

Last night in particular had been troublesome. They had slept in one of the parks, in one of those crawling tubes you find on climbers, quiet, sheltered from the rain and they couldn't easily be seen. It was a very good spot, better then their last sleeping place at least, a car park didn't provide the same hiding places and had cameras. They had to sleep with their bags between them, their arms hooked on the straps so they couldn't be stolen and were a little cramped but it was still a perfect haven for two street kids.

They had been staying there for the past few days but after last night Lovino didn't dare go back.

They had woken up with the dawn like usual, crawling out from the tunnel before checking their bags to ensure everything was still there. All that was in those sacks were two sweaters, a pair of pants, a can opener and a thermos but to them it was gold, priceless even. Gently folding up the thin blanket they had, they put it in one of them.

It went downhill from there, a group of boys in lycée with superiority complexes on their way to school thought it would be good sport to harass them and steal their packs. Seeing them close in, Lovino pushed Feliciano through an opening as he could outrun pretty much anyone and in seconds he was gone. Having caused one of their victims to escape, Lovino soon found himself with a fight on his hands against these bigger boys. However, they had not survived this long without picking up a trick or two and was able to knock one of the boys out and hold two of them off before the fourth managed to get behind him and a fist connected into his side, followed by many of its brethren. He went limp for a second and in their surprise, he attacked the instep of the boy behind him, punched the one on his right in the gut and headbutted the one in front of him before swinging around to hit the last boy between the legs. Not giving them even a second to recover, he took off and climbed up a nearby tree.

One of the benefits from not being able to eat enough was he was light and able to perch on branches far above their reach. Upon realizing this, they began to wait for him to come down. However, unlike him, they had people who would be upset with them if they didn't go to school so after about ten minutes of throwing rocks and insults they left.

Fuckers.

After making sure they were really gone, Lovino scrambled down and ran over to the bridge that they had made their safety point.

He hated this life. Not only because of the lack of food causing hunger constantly gnawing at their stomachs, or because of the bullies they had to deal with or their compromised morals but because of how he was perceived. As he ran down the street, no one acknowledged his existence.

He was, for all intents and purposes, invisible.

The few times they were desperate enough to beg had only increased those feelings as passerby's eyes just glazed over them, not acknowledging their words or presence; just passing them over. As if they were not there, as if they didn't even exist at all.

It was what he hated the most; that sense of not-existing; of not being  _real_. It became almost reassuring when they received eye contact or a cent, someone then was at least acknowledging them being there and what he and his brother have gone through. Though at the same time, he was hit with shame for people seeing the low they had been brought to.

Turning the corner, he sighed in relief when he saw the bridge and then, swinging up into the trellises, he was further relieved to see Feliciano there.

It had been a close call though, they'd have to be more careful to avoid any more pretentious morons like them who had nothing better to do but harass those less fortunate then them. They would maybe stay the night by the Louvre as there were a number of relatively safe places to stay for the night there... They could worry about that later, they still had the entire day before that to get through after all.

Feliciano, freaking out over his cuts and bruises (and probably guilty for listening to Lovino and putting his own safety first) had immediately disappeared for a bit before coming back with some money. It was lucky that in the morning, commuters never paid that much attention and when Feli pulled out his innocent "Hey mister, you dropped your wallet!" routine, they never stood a chance. He would pickpocket their wallet, take one or two euro (never enough to be noticed) before returning it, sometimes getting more money for his trouble.

Groaning, Lovino got to his feet as dragged him towards the nearest convenience store where the younger twin proceeded to drag him over to the first aid section. There was another skinny boy there with darker skin and dreads and wearing a Hawaiian shirt, Lovino guessing him to be about a year older then them, with his own substantial stack of supplies.

As they looked over each box looking a little lost, he reached over and handed Feli a box saying, "Here, these ones work the best and these icepacks last the longest."

"T-Thank you." Feli stammered out while Lovino grunted noncommittally, god everything  _hurt_.

"You're welcome."

Paying for their items (the shopkeeper glaring at them suspiciously as they did so) and leaving the odd boy behind (he was nice to them, how strange!)

Finding a quiet alley, with some cardboard to shelter them against the wind, Feli set about binding his brother's injuries and made him sit there with the icepack on his eye and knee (at the same time, they could only afford one after all) until the pack was no longer cold.

* * *

Lovino stayed there the rest of the day, hiding from prying eyes, Feli deeming him not fit to do anything until the ice pack at least was done. It was mid-afternoon when his brother came back with a good haul. He had been behind a nearby used clothing store that had just gotten rid of the donations they considered unfit to sell and had managed to find a nice enough (by their standards)  _Rammstein_ t-shirt with one or two holes and a pair of slightly ripped cargo pants. He himself already had new clothes on, a stained gaming tshirt and a pair of jeans covered in paint, Lovino sighed in happiness as the new clothes graced his skin, these would be a more effective shield against the wind and the bitter cold that came at night. Even better, he had found extra socks; the ones they had were getting very worn and these slightly used pairs were a delight. Then Feli pulled out the other treasure he'd gathered – no one had been watching a few of the outside stands and he had managed to swipe a can of soup.

If his past self could see him now, he was sure that the younger boy would've been astonished by the joy he found in these simple things. The sheer pleasure from having a new (to him) pair of socks, a shirt and food in his belly was surpassing that he used to feel on Christmas morning.

After they had eaten and deemed themselves as presentable, or at least as presentable as they could get; they went to the nearby library (if you looked like a street kid they'd watch you like a hawk) and proceeded to fall asleep in the great arm chairs they had.

* * *

"Excuse me. Mister? Wake up please!"

Feliciano slowly opened his eyes and saw a young Asian girl in pink with a flower in her long hair standing there, lightly tugging at his shirt. Seeing he was awake, she clapped her hands together and smiled. "Good you're up! The Library is closing a little and the librarians here are so grumpy when waking people up so I thought it would be nice if I did it instead...though could you wake your brother up? My Dàgē! (大哥) is waiting for me."

Flashing his brightest smile, he nodded and she ran off towards four other Asians, the eldest of whom nodded at him before turning around and going downstairs.

Feli immediately dropped his smile, he could see outside through the window and it was  _pouring_. He knew by now that the good phone booths, bus shelters, bridges awnings and alleys that sheltered from the rain would be packed by now by others in a similar situation to them. However that was when the nasty bullies would also show up and as gangly sixteen year olds, both he and Lovi didn't stand a chance.

But then, where to stay for the night? Their park was no longer safe and while they could go to a drop in centre, they both knew that they'd likely be made to go into some sort of foster care and that the men who had destroyed their lives could then find them. Not worth the risk, but then, where could they go?

Leaning over, he gently shook Lovino awake while whispering nonsense to him (so that way he knew it was him and not an assailant). Just as the older Italian was blinking sleep out of his eyes a stern librarian came over, grimace on his face and pointed them to the door. Well, there'd be no sleeping over at the library (they had successfully done that before though it was hard) tonight then. Peering out into the gloom, Feli spotted a nearby bridge that they could at least get shelter from the rain, though not the driving winds. Running over, they were happy to see no one else hiding up in the trellises and soon were hiding in the most sheltered area waiting for the storm to pass.

Which took the evening, the night and most the of the following morning.

Not wanting to venture out into the rain, they hunkered down and waited and as soon as it stopped they darted out again, their stomachs whining from the lack of food since the can of soup. However, picking were slim due to the rain so Lovi and Feli reluctantly agreed on what they needed to do.

Needing money again (but when didn't they? They could almost weep in joy when they had enough to get a Big Mac for each of them), they found themselves in the Champs-Élysées, pickpocketing anyone who looked an easy target: essentially, anyone who looked to be a tourist.

At least, that was the plan.

However, it all went to pieces when Feliciano went for the wrong wallet and found himself looking into a pair of red eyes.

* * *

**Translations**

_fratello_ (It- brother)

 _calmarsi_ (It- calm down)

 _Fuga. Stanno arrivando._ (It- Run/flee. They are coming)

 _secondaria_ (It- high school)

 _Dàgē! (_ _大哥_ _)_ (Ch- Big Brother)


	2. What It's Like

**I do not own Hetalia or anything else, just my plot.**

* * *

_A single non-revolutionary weekend is infinitely more bloody than a month of total revolution._

* * *

" _So...are you sure?" Asked a very hesitant Ludwig._

" _Yeah. With Vater gone, we are now illegally staying here according to the lawyer looking after his affairs. So, despite the fact he was a well respected diplomat and how sudden this is, we are being treated as no more then a freaking burden! We have only a few hours to gather our things but then we are to be deported." Gilbert spat out the words as if they were poisonous and to him, they probably were._

_Ludwig looked like he wanted to cry and Roderich appeared to be barely holding it together by the news. Looking to the side, Gilbert felt even worse about bearing the bad news upon seeing his cousin. Berwald looked frantic. He had been adopted by Fritz after his own parents demise just months before. Gilbert pitied him, he'd begun to get over their deaths and now the poor kid was being saddled with this!_

" _But, don't they at least have to contact someone in Deutschland to make sure that there is someone to pick us up?" asked a fairly worried looking Roderich._

_Gilbert's silence was all the answer they needed. The eight year old and the two ten year olds looked at him with growing horror._

_With a sigh, he then shook his head. "When I mentioned the fact that there was no one to look after us, (after all that was why he brought me, Lud and Roddy with him to France in the first place), she only said that our paperwork had gotten misfiled and as such it wasn't her problem but Deutschland's to make sure we are looked after." He clenched his fists. "When I protested further all she said was that we better find someone to contact or get used to the streets." How could she tell a twelve year old such things? Who would tell him to take care of three kids plus himself and get used to the idea being homeless? Especially so soon after the death of their father figure?_

_Bitch._

" _But I don't want to leave." whimpered Ludwig._

_There was no way he was going to do that to little Luddy, Roddy or Ber. Live on the streets. Fine. Move to unfamiliar country (only he could remember their home before). Fine. But both? They could go fuck themselves._

_Stupid adults._

_Time to give them a taste of things not going their way, they could disappear. After all, their paperwork was 'misfiled', wasn't it? No one was expecting them, no one wanted them_

_So that was exactly what they did, they vanished off the grid and began living the life of vagrants in the streets of Paris._

* * *

Gilbert had successfully kept his family more or less intact since their near deportation five years prior, by no means an easy feat and a fact he was very proud of.

He had kept his promise to his Vati and looked after his family, always putting their needs first. Blood was thicker then water the old man had continuously reminded him and even now, living in a hovel of an apartment, he was glad he had held to that course.

Despite their poverty and constant moving around, he had done well to provide for them and educating them. They could all read (Ludwig in particular was probably known by sight by all the librarians and book-keepers in Paris) and were in relatively good health, something that wasn't that common among those in their situation. He tottered around their kitchen area (which was really no more then a corner of the room with a bucket, a few dishes and a hot plate), cleaning up the dishes he and the others had left before going off to work. Whistling to himself, he began to scrub the pan, only to stop when he heard shifting beside him.

Ah, the two strays he had brought home with him.

The pair had looked so panicked when he had grabbed the wrist of the auburn haired one as he had attempted to pick his pocket. Originally, he had been furious. How dare they try to take what little he had? But when he looked at the boy, truly looked at him, he felt his heart sink.

When he stared into the terrified brown eyes of his would-be pickpocket, Gilbert realized all over again just how lucky they had been. This could have been them if Gilbert hadn't used the few contacts Fritz had and managed to keep them off of the street and hadn't managed to find under-the-table work quickly enough (cause they obviously couldn't do anything officially as they would be found out and he was underage). They were never hungry (or at least not  _that_  hungry), they were never homeless; while they had suffered, it hadn't been like what he could see in those boys eyes.

In those seconds, he sized the boy up and decided he couldn't weigh more then 41 kgs (90lbs) and seeing the others sibling (because who else could he be?) looking absolutely terrified but coming towards him anyway, he quickly came to a decision.

There was no way he could leave a kindred soul to a fate that he had barely managed to avoid mostly through luck. No fucking way, not when they looked that hungry.

It might have seemed illogical to some, hell, he second guessed himself all the way back to his humble abode – they could kill them, steal everything, blackmail them and whatnot and do so very effectively upon knowing where they lived. They had just tried to pickpocket him!

But looking again at their thin frames and exhausted expressions, he couldn't resist.

He really was a bleeding heart sometimes.

Gilbert picked up one of the bowls and began to hum quietly as he cleaned it, letting his mind wander. After they had devoured the offered food (Gilbert worming the most basic information out of them), they had then fallen into a light sleep. Not that he blamed them – if they had been outside the night before, the storm was not something to sleep through especially once the temperature dropped. He and his siblings had set up a watch so someone was always awake to watch the other three for signs of hypothermia and the like as their apartment provided shelter from the elements but not the temperature.

A more troubling thought occurred to him; he wondered if the pair had even had any semblance of shelter at all, their clothes were not good enough to keep the elements at bay. How were they not... That train of thought was derailed along with his continuous humming as both boys shifted, beginning to stir, light sleepers due to their circumstances before stilling again. He shuddered to think of what they could have possibly gone through to begin to wake up by the sounds of him cleaning the plastic dishes and humming.

Nothing good at least which just made that unnamed emotion twist harder in his gut.

He looked the two over with critical eyes. Their faces were gaunt, dark circles puffy under their eyes and cheeks slightly sunken and they were wearing clothes meant for maybe a 13 year old hung baggily off their frames, sure signs of long-term hunger. He was sure that they had passed the night out in the storm with little shelter as they had some of the symptoms for a fever. They had also immediately gone to sleep in the corner of the room, with their backs to the wall and the one was even sleeping sitting up – possible trust issues then. Their pack's straps had been wound around their limbs so at the slightest jostling, they would wake. Trust issues definitely then. They had clean enough clothes he was surprised to see, though judging by the dirt on their skin and the condition of the rest of their appearance, they were rather new. He doubted either of their hair was naturally black, just as he thought it unlikely that their skin be that dark a shade of brown. They would need to have a bath before Ludwig flipped his lid.

Though he would likely do so anyway because Gilbert had picked up two more 'strays'...

But that didn't matter, he had survived on his instincts, betting both his life and those of his siblings on them before and now they were telling him to look after the duo so they would stay. He had taken an immediate liking to the pair (something that never happened) regardless and he was oddly pleased though that he had been assessed by their sub-consciences to be at least not a big enough threat (aka not one at all really) to wake up instantly for. Mind made up, he went back to his dishes, though not to his humming.

He could only hope his housemates would be okay with this and that he'd made the right decision...

* * *

_How the hell did they end up in the potato-fucker's house?_ Was all Lovino could think as they entered into a slum of an apartment.

It was only one room - about 8ft x 6ft or 2.44m x 1.83m – with a futon on the side and couch cushions spread everywhere else (though there was no couch). There was water damage up in the corner of the ceiling, areas where the drywall had come off and instant noodle wrappers everywhere. As they moved the wooden floor creaked ominously below them and one tiny window in the corner barely illuminated the grungy-ness of the place.

It was the best looking house he had seen in ages.

How they had gone from the very dangerous situation of being caught pickpocketing to being welcomed into the other boy's home was unknown to him. In fact, it happened so fast, it nearly made his head spin. Feliciano was the one who still trusted too easily, who had just accepted the offer before Lovino could refuse.

He was tense, each creak causing terror to rush through him. The only thing they knew about the other was that he was slightly better off then them, he was albino and German (judging by the barely-there accent). Not exactly trust-with-your-life material: what did he want from them?

"So...this is it! Home sweet home!" The strange teen gesturing to the cushions on the left side explained. "You guys can put your stuff over there for now, my offer about staying for as long as you need to still stands."

Looking around the room in awe, Feliciano looked like he wanted nothing better then to just collapse on the offered "bed" and immediately sat down on the ragged cushions, pulling Lovino down with him.

Lovino's mind was a whirl with thoughts mainly centring around one thing: what did the albino want. Never before had they been taken in solely out of kindness, they always wanted something. Sex, manual labour, something to take their anger out on... Nothing was ever for free, out of kindness. This man looked just slightly better off then they did, there was no way he wasn't expecting something in return...

Both were drawn from their thoughts when they heard a kettle whistling and a bowl of instant soup was placed in front of them.

"You two hungry?"

Sitting down beside his brother, he looked incredulously at him before the smell of the soup got to him and he cautiously picked up the bowl; keeping on eye on the other as he did so. Said albino just rolled his eyes before  _turning his back to them_ , his body language fairly relaxed. Lovino was taken aback (blown away really) by the action, to people in circumstances such as theirs, giving up eye contact so easily and letting down ones guard never happened. Why was he trusting them?

Well, free food was free food and so, giving the suspicious ( _safe_  whispered a treacherous part of his mind that he then duly ignored) potato idiot another glare, he just about inhaled the soup in front of him.

It was so good.

Nothing at all like mother used to make but it lit a fire in his belly, the warmth spreading to the rest of him that he hadn't realized had been chilled until now... They could stay a bit longer he decided, until the too-kind crazy potato bastard realized he was  _being_ crazy letting them in his house and feeding them and kicked them out.

* * *

Hearing the sound of a key entering and turning in a the lock, Feliciano found himself immediately awake and on his feet before he could even fully process what was happening. There was someone coming, he needed to get away...

Wait, where was he again?

Taking in the dingy room, the empty package of instasoup, the couch cushion and the nearby sleeping albino he slowly remembered the few hours before. Looking out the window he could see that it was early evening as the sun had nearly sunk past the horizon. He was surprised he had slept so long without waking: either he was more exhausted then he originally thought or he felt safe enough to relax to get REM sleep. Neither really didn't seem likely.

But more importantly, there was  _nowhere for him to hide_.

Lovino was also instantly awake and crouched (ready to run) beside him, their lives on the street having engrained it into them. They both watched, bodies tensed to flee if need be (whether quickly through the door or out the window), as the bolt turned on the door, eyes wide.

*Click*

The few seconds seemed to stretch into an eternity as the door slowly creaked open and three shadowy figures could be seen. Feli wanted to move but Lovino's hand flashed up and grabbed his wrist, the tight grip preventing him from doing so, so there they stood frozen in fright.

Three figures shuffled into the darkened room before flicking on a flashlight near the door. They yelped in surprise when they saw the two normally-brown-haired twins uneasily staring at them.

At the yelp and the thunk sound of the flashlight hitting the ground, Gilbert was also up and moving going towards any threat to his family. When his waking mind caught up with him, he relaxed before giving a cocky grin to the barely illuminated trio.

" 'Bout time you guys got home! I was getting worried!"

The shortest one gave a sigh, bending over to pick up the flashlight as he quietly said "Sure you were bruder. I see you've picked up more strays. Who are they?"

Bending over and picking up the other small flashlight, he gestured for the other three to sit down, he answered "They're from Italy. This one," he pointed with the flashlight "is Lovino and the other is Feliciano."

Then he turned the beam on the newcomers, first a haughty looking brunet with a small mole on the left side of his face. "This is my younger (prissy) brother Roderich," then he turned the light on an imposing blonde. "This is my cousin Berwald and this..." turning the beam onto an unimpressed looking 14 year old blonde, "is my youngest brother Ludwig."

* * *

While the others settled in and made some instasoup of their own, the two Italians sat back down in the corner. By the time the Germans settled in the cushions, they were asleep again, exhausted: it had been far too long since they had a secure enough area to truly sleep. For some reason, Feliciano and Lovino found themselves trusting (almost against their will really) the albino and, stranger still, had already extended it his small family and were able to actually rest.

Ludwig looked at the two, barely illuminated by the moonlight from the window, before he turned to Gilbert. "Bruder. What were you thinking?" He hissed. "We are already stretching our earnings to be able to afford the rent and feed ourselves! What are we going to do with two more mouths to feed?"

"I was thinking that I couldn't just leave them there." Gilbert whispered hotly back. "We were lucky, they weren't. They haven't told me much but do you see them? Like  _really_ see them? It's not to difficult to piece together the bare minimum of what they must have gone through! They are covered in bruises, their ribs you can count and if you so much as lift a hand, they will cower from you! Once they felt they could slightly trust me, they inhaled the food – like you blink, it's gone kind of quick – because they were so hungry. Look at how they are sleeping, how they positioned themselves and their packs. They are just scraping by and not by much... you can see it in their eyes that they haven't yet given up on themselves and humanity, but you know as well as I do that it takes only a little push before they end up suicidal or a psycho/sociopath from the pressure."

Seeing as Roderich was opening his mouth to interrupt, Gilbert shot him a glare and ploughed on, deliberately not mentioning the entire attempted-to-pickpocket-him thing. "That day in and day out, being homeless, friendless, broke and hungry breaks something until it's so smashed you can't be bothered to hold it together!They still have some life in their eyes, some hope, some trust... Society may walk past them as they did once for us, but I refuse to do so Ludwig Beilschmidt!"

"But..."

"At least give them a chance, we can bring them to work with us – I heard the boss saying he was going to need more people soon."

"They could be thieves Gilbert!" Roderich interjected.

"Firstly, do you think they could be, looking as they do? Secondly, if they were, I doubt they would be casing our place. Thirdly, my instinct says they aren't, that they haven't gotten that desperate yet." He interjected wryly, choosing to, once again, conveniently forget about his experience earlier in the day. Putting up a hand to prevent anyone from saying anything. "And if I'm wrong and they are, I will take full responsibility for it, alright?"

"Fine." said Roderich and Ludwig begrudgingly.

"Berwald? You're part of the family too, whad'ya say?"

The Swede looked lost in thought for a few moments before nodding. Gilbert felt a familiar pang of disappointment, he still wasn't speaking (he had stopped after Fritz's death) even after five years, though he was happy that he had agreed to let the Italians stay.

"Well with that sorted out, shall we go to bed?"

* * *

Light snores filled the room as Ludwig slowly sat up, thin blanket falling off of his body as he finally gave up trying to fall asleep.

Moving as quietly as he could, he manoeuvred around the sleeping figures and cushions to the water bucket in their "kitchen" and took a drink.

He was so tired, so why was he so restless tonight? His mind rebelling against him, refusing to let him sleep, perhaps if he could figure out the reason he could.

Relaxing, he let his mind wander and found himself thinking of what he had seen when he had first come in... those two had looked so afraid. Of what? Of him? Why? And why did he care if they were afraid of him?

Turning, he rubbed his temples to ward of the migraine and began to go back to his cushions when he heard an ever so quiet whimper.

Turning towards the source of the sound, he saw it came just beside his two cushions where the Italians were sleeping. When nothing appeared out of the ordinary he again began to move towards his bed.

Then came another whimper.

Going against his better instincts which said to have nothing to do with feelings, Ludwig inched his way over just as a heart-wrenching barely-there whisper cut through the air. "Papà...Mamma!"

The poor kid was having a nightmare.

Looking more closely, he was astonished to see silent tears ghosting down his cheeks (which was quite the feat, he wondered how the boy had learned to cry quietly in his sleep) and that despite being in a rather nasty dream, the boy did not move or thrash around. What had the kid gone through?

For the first time, he felt sympathy towards the duo and understood why Gilbert had decided what he had because any possible answer to that question made his insides twist uncomfortably.

Kneeling, he hesitantly reached one hand out to shake him gently, but he had barely even brushed his shoulder when pain exploded behind his eyes as the boy shot up and headbutted him with a silent scream. Getting both hands up quickly, one to massage his forehead and the other to cover the other's mouth; he then whispered quickly. "Sorry if I startled you, you were having a nightmare. It is just me, Ludwig. Don't yell, you will wake the others."

Seeing the clarity in the Italian's eyes, signalling he was free of the dream's influence, he removed his hand and leaned back. "Are you alright, Feli...?"  _What was the rest of his name again? Didn't matter really at the moment but if they are going to be staying with us, I should learn it._

The boy nodded. "Sorry for waking you." He whispered out, Ludwig's ears straining to catch the words.

"Don't be. I was awake anyway...um, you want to talk about it?"

"Not really." Feliciano looked at him, appraising, before blurting out "It was about the night my parents were murdered." He then sagged as though getting those words off his chest took all his energy with them.

"Oh. I-I see." What do you say to something like that? He leaned forward and gently placed a hand on the smaller boy's shoulder, in what he hoped was a comforting manner.

Apparently that was all the invitation the other needed; the Italian then attached himself to his front, tears quickly soaking his shirt. "Ludwig... Why would someone do something like that? Why to my parents? Why me?" He babbled, clearly needing to talk about it to someone.

"I-I don't know." He answered as he looked down, wasn't he supposed to be doing something with his arms? Awkwardly he brought his hand up and ended the one-way hug, even rubbing circles in the Italian's back, who was the picture of misery. "Why does anything bad ever happen?"

What had Gilbert always told him when he was in one of these moods? He remembered it always cheered him up...

"Feli (seriously what was the rest of the name?), the human race is the most stupid and unfair kind of race. You know that? Bad things happen to good people and good things to the bad. In this race, a lot of the runners don't even get decent sneakers or clean drinking water. Some runners are born with a massive head start, every possible help along the way and the judges all seem to be on their side. I know that we ended up with a lot more hurdles and pitfalls then anyone else..."

He looked down at the big wide eyes staring up at him. "But at the same time, we can't be among those who have given up competing altogether and gone to sit in the grandstand, eat junk food and shout abuse...We're better then that."

"Then what do we do?" Asked Feliciano, quietly, enthralled with the metaphor.

"As Gilbert would say - We're the streakers." That earned a snort of laughter as, considering it was him saying it, it was said in a completely seriously tone. "The ones who thumb their nose at the difficulties and enjoy what they have. The ones with nothing, who have to work harder and while they may not win, they have a memorable race in the end. The ones who run a race they can be proud of."

"I can't see a finish line." Feliciano said softly after a moment or two, "I'm not entirely sure I've even left the start."

Ludwig raised an eyebrow surprised before hesitantly responding, "I wouldn't be too sure about that...Try...try looking up ahead instead of down at your feet and waiting for your laces to come undone again. Things will get better somehow I'm sure."

Feli gave a small smile at his answer and though it was obvious that he didn't really believe him, he didn't respond.

They talked in hushed whispers for a little longer about nothing in particular until Ludwig could no longer see shadows in the other boy's eyes. Exhausted, he then bid the other a good night with a yawn and went back to his own cushion to sleep.

* * *

**Song for this Chapter - **_What it's like_  by Everlast****


	3. Another Day In Paradise

**I do not own Hetalia or anything else, just my plot.**

**Quotes at the beginning of the chapters are all from graffiti.**

* * *

_People are anxious to change their circumstance yet are unwilling to change themselves, therefore they remain bound…_

* * *

Miguel smiled slightly as the twins walked away, the one clearly fretting over the other. Poor kid looked like a hell – a black eye, a split lip, bruises forming anywhere where skin could be seen and, judging by how he held himself, bruised ribs as well. Though judging by the glare he received from the bruised twin when the worried one was grabbing the ice pack, he was certainly not broken.

Good.

He knew by looking at them that they were also less well off and he was happy to see that they weren't letting it get to them, that they still cared about life and about each other. Since he and his brothers had run away, it was those they ran into that had given up caring that were the most dangerous as they had placed no value on their lives or anyone elses. It was good to see others still clinging to their sense of self and not letting the world's cynicism take that from them – just like his older brothers.

Quickly paying, he left the store and began to idly wander aimlessly through the streets for a few minutes before discretely looking over his shoulder and darting into a side alley. Walking speedily back, he looked around quickly, checking to see if anyone was following him before ducking through the small hole in the fence and through the row of hedges that surrounded their hiding place, a small run-down and abandoned church. Though run down perhaps was a little generous, half of the roof tiles being gone, anything of value at its interior long since gone and the building was barely standing, the walls leaning at a dangerous angle.

Crawling through the basement window, he climbed around the debris before going up what remained of the stairs then knocked out the theme song for Pokémon on their makeshift door. He waited a moment or two then completed the code by kicking the door and hissing "Let me in dunderheads!"

There were a few quiet steps, before the 'door" creaked open and he saw his violet eyed brother on the other side, gently smiling at him.

"Feeling any better?" He whispered, worry lacing his tone (as it always did these days).

Matthew nodded then grimaced, unravelling the scarf around his throat, exposing his bruises and cuts to the air. Miguel felt a wave of fury hit him again seeing the dark purple mottle the pale skin from where the other had been chocked. "A lil. S'll 'urts ta 'alk." He croaked out.

Sheer force of will caused Miguel not to wince at the damage. "I got you an ice pack, which should hopefully help the swelling. That bastard got you good..."

"But I got him better." Al said, coming around the corner, old bandages over half of his face. "He won't be outta th'a hospital anytime soon. No one hurts my family."

Wordlessly, Miguel dragged them both one of the remaining pews and got them both to sit down, unpacking all of the bandages, anti-inflammatories, icepacks, antibotics and hydrogen peroxide he had bought at the store. Then he slowly began to bandage them up, mind flicking back to  _that_ night.

* * *

_It had been a good day, they had moved from this house in the States a few months ago and today they had unpacked the last box. To celebrate, their babysitter had taken them out to the park and for ice cream – their Mom was out shopping for more things for their new apartment and Dad was at work._

_They had come home, had hamburgers for dinner and then played Pirate until it was bedtime. All three were looking forward to the next day and had began to whisper about their plans, when they heard raised voices, their parents voices._

_Scared, they had sneaked across the floor and put their ears to the door._

" _Dear, I'm afraid if we keep this up, we will lose the apartment. You must stop all this frivolous spending." Their Dad argued, sounding frustrated._

"  _But honey... that's the only reason I stay sane from having to put with those brats all day. Shopping helps me keep myself from just ripping out their little throats!" Their Mom answered airily, her tone deceptive considering her words._

_The deep baritone voice chuckled and continued "Fair point my love. Then what to do? We cannot afford the apartment, your sanity-shopping and the imps."_

" _Why don't we get rid of the little terrors? This is the country of... 'l'amour', right? I'm sure there would be some brothel that would love to have them."_

" _...That is probably the brightest thing you have ever said my dearest."_

_From the room, the two nine year olds and seven year old looked at each other, wide eyed and horrified._

_Miguel whispered "I don't like the sound of that."_

" _Me neither" whispered back Matthew._

_Alfred swiftly stood and whispered "Well, if they don't wan' us then we don't wan' them. Guys. Lets grab our things and get outta this dump."_

_Soon, if anyone had been paying attention, they would have seen three small figures with backpacks sneak out the window, out of the rat infested building and onto the fire escape._

* * *

It had been nine years to the day since they had left, since his world was turned upside down, stripped from him. His loving parents and ideal life turning out to be a lie. One hundred and eight months since he had felt truly wanted in the world (besides by Matt and Al). Four hundred and seventy weeks since he'd found himself being scorned by society for something he never wanted to choose. Three thousand, two hundred and eighty-eight days since his stomach was truly filled. Seventy-eight thousand, eight hundred and forty hours since he had had to see his brothers get beaten _black and_ _blue_ every _day_.

They had survived, barely, their first year on the streets. They had done what they had to survive but by the end, they had made a mistake by trying to steal some food and discovered they had crossed an invisible border and were on the wrong turf.

Turns out that the Gravestones did not take kindly to others stealing in their territory.

They had tried to escape but were not fast enough to outrun all of them and were cornered, chased into a back alley. Miguel had thought that that was the end for them; two ten year olds and a eight year old stood no chance against their more numerous and bigger opponents. Trapped, they had fought back and instead of being beaten within an inch of their lives, after a few moments they were rescued by a gruff old man threatening their assailants with a gun.

However, by that point, they knew to be suspicious. Ultimate law to people like them was that nothing, absolutely  _nothing_ , was for free. There was always a price of sorts and this time was no difference. The Old Man (he refused to give his name to 'urchins' like them) was a sponsor for fighters in an underground ring and his last fighter had just been killed. In return for his timely assistance and for not going to the police with evidence of their thieving; they would work for him.

At the time, it hadn't sounded like a bad deal: shelter and clothing provided and even being  _paid_ in return for learning how to fight and then winning matches.

Their rose-tinted glasses were gone after the first time his older siblings, just shy of eleven, entered into the ring for the first time, into dark realm of illegal underground fighting. This was a world of violence, those attending and betting on their matches wanting to see more violence, more blood then they would in any legal boxing, wresting or MMA ring. There were no holds bared, no strikes banned and no weapons disallowed: stepping into the ring was to put your life on the line. Worse, if they ever tried backed out, the Old Man had amassed more and more blackmail against them that they would be thrown in prison. A fact he frequently reminded them of. The Old Man was looking to make money and didn't care he was potentially sending them to their deaths, he could easily find others in their desperate situation.

They became jaded, disgusted with what they were doing while learning any and all tricks to survive against the taller, stronger, older opponents they had, odds against them. It was then Miguel felt himself to begin to lose his siblings, the world beating them down as surely as their opponents fists.

Trained, they could usually take their opponents down when they were underestimated as many hadn't been expecting Alfred's strength or Matthew's speed, especially when they first started when they were still small. However, now they were older (eighteen now) and known among the fighting arenas, things weren't as easy. They did their best to shield him from that world, hiding him from the Old Man and his schemes, keeping him from the ring but he knew anyway. This lifestyle was becoming even harder and things were likely to a breaking point soon; after all their luck had gone on for too long and was bond to run out soon.

As Miguel did his best to change the bandages covering the deep gashes on Al's face and clean the area where he had stitched them shut (his stitches had improved considerably over the nine years he noted morbidly), he found himself again daydreaming. Thinking about any possibility, any way to get his carefree older brothers back as with each passing year, more seemed to get stripped away.

The ones who would laugh freely.

The ones who would rant excessively about hockey and baseball.

The ones who would eat more hamburgers and maple-related products in a setting then most could in a year.

The ones who would take him out to ice cream after school and count cars as they passed by their curb.

The ones he didn't have to stitch shut every night.

_It just wasn't fair._

He was sixteen, he was supposed to be worrying about whether or not he was ready for that test or if the girl he liked, liked him back. Not wondering if he was going to be robbed of his few belongings at night on the streets, if they would have enough money to eat or if his brothers (who, by all rights, should be preparing for university) would survive the night after the blows they endured.

He bit back a sob, the hopelessness of their situation overwhelming him. He would never mention this, his brothers had given up a lot for him and were standing as strong as they could for him, the least he could do was do the same and not add to their burdens. After all, if one of them visibly despaired, the other two too would break.

So he worked on methodically until he began to put things away with a sigh.

"There, finished."

"Thanks 'Lito!" Al said as he got up and stretched a little before ruffling Miguel's hair, a shadow of his true grin stretching across his face.

How did he know? How did they always know when his mind began to go down a dark road, despite his attempts to conceal it? Hiding a small grin of his own, he scowled and tried to flatten his hair. "My name is Miguel, Alfred! Don't call me by that ridiculous nickname!"

Alfred leaned forward, his showing eye crinkling as he grinned. "'Li-to."

Then he had to begin running around the Church as Miguel obliged him with the expected reaction, chasing after him. "Don't you dare run on me you American bastard! You're going to reopen your stitches! Stop!"

* * *

Later that night, despite their injuries, Matt and Al had again been signed up for matches by the thrice-damned Old Man and so they had found themselves again in the ring.

Nevermind that Alfred couldn't see out of his left eye and the Matt couldn't fully turn his neck due to the bruising and strained muscles. Miguel was starting to get the suspicion that to the bastard that they had outlived their golden-goose days and was looking to be rid of them. That or was trying to squeeze every penny he could before they broke? Why else would he keep entering them in so many and such dangerous matches without having had rest or recuperating at all but instead pushing them farther? He wanted to them to burn out, of that he was sure, he just wasn't sure why...

As he had been forbidden from getting close or even show an interest in the matches, playing at having asthma so that their "coach' wouldn't ever try to drag him into the fights; he watched, hidden, from the sidelines as his half-brothers entered the arena, already bloody and beaten from their previously hard-won solo matches. All that was left was this tag team, then he could take them home and stitch them back up...

 _Oh dear lord_...Was his next thought, mouth going dry. They were putting up the cage walls, making it a cage match while also giving his brothers opponent's  _weapons_ as the crowd roared in delight _._ This was an extremely slanted match, the other two fighters having not a scratch on them and having obviously not fought for the entire night.

He saw Alfred glance behind him and he quickly mouthed. "Please be careful."

Solemnly, Al nodded back and leaned over and whispered into Matt's ear, who then turned around and nodded in his general direction.

He says in his general direction as Matthew needed glasses (which they couldn't afford sadly) and couldn't see far away so he had to guess which the blur was his younger half-brother. On the flip side, Al couldn't see close up, both of which they had managed to keep secret so far.

As the match began, Miguel watched in growing horror as the other two fighters immediately got the jump on his hermanos and proceeded to not even give them time to begin to conduct a proper defense. It was only seconds later when Alfred was sent flying across a side kick to the abdomen from the knife fighter and Matthew got smashed in the head with the bow staff (which broke giving him time to get out of range) that they managed to begin to fight back.

Knowing they wouldn't last long, they moved quickly – Alfred getting the jump on the staff fighter, knocking him to the ground while Matthew laid the other out into oblivion with an uppercut followed immediately by a spinning hook kick, Miguel felt a burst of pride.

He was happy his brothers were strong (he was too, very handy in a street fight as he'd proven) but still, he wanted nothing more then to see them actually truly smile again. With all their teeth present preferably, though that wasn't a must.

* * *

Their hosts had to be up at 5am in order to arrive at work on time and, despite their best efforts, had woken the Italian brothers. Morning was a somewhat awkward affair between Feliciano and Ludwig, not that the others particularly noticed. They just avoided making eye contact, neither one wanting to broach the moment that had transpired between them the night before.

It was even more awkward when the Italian brothers realized that there wasn't enough food as there should've been for breakfast due to Gilbert taking them in. The packets of noodles they had eaten hadn't been intended for them after all.

Guilt was not an emotion that Feli was familiar with anymore, the past few years having taken his ability to have such feelings; he didn't like it at all. Looking over at his brother and seeing him fidget ever so slightly in discomfort, he knew the other felt the same. Hell, they had been homeless and had stolen money but that didn't mean that the Vargas's wouldn't pay their debts when they could.

They had three euro left over from when they bought the ice pack and while it couldn't buy them much, now that they had access to boiling water, they could at least get more instant noodles.

It was market day after all.

Making a show of going back to sleep, Lovi and Feli waited until the others went to work and then they slipped out through the window, re-locking it behind them with a thin pocket knife and climbed down using finger-holds in the worn in brick. They weren't sure why their hosts had trusted them alone in their house but they weren't about to abuse that trust by leaving their door unlocked – a window was much easier to manage. In fact, touched by their trust and against their better judgement, they emptied their packs of all their belongings and left them there so that they could bring empty backpacks with them. Sneaking onto the metro wasn't too difficult; just needed to slip through the barriers (stick close to someone going through in front of you, easy!) and then blending in with all the early morning commuters. They then went south to the Seine where a farmer's market was just setting up.

This was a weekly thing that the pair had discovered in the past and a way to earn legitimate money and some food. The kindly folk here, in exchange for their help in setting up and tearing down their stalls and tents would frequently give them a few coins and even some food! Luckily, they had gotten there in time and most were just arriving and they gained about fifteen euros in change, a baguette and a piece of candy each. Putting everything in their packs but the candy which they popped into their mouths, they then trekked over to the nearest Carrefour and bought as many instant noodles as they could.

They hung around during the day, nibbling a little on their earnings and laying low; they would occasionally walk around the area and pick up any loose change they saw and moved around lest one of the  _flics_  got a little too curious as to what two young, scruffy looking teens were hanging around for. Luckily today they had no trouble and once the sun began to set, they helped to take down those same tents and earned all sorts of leftovers: fruit that was a little too bruised to sell, vegetables that wouldn't last until the next market and were too much for the farmer's family, three eggs (a prize!) and some stale bread. Getting back on the metro, they made their way back with their spoils and clambered they back up the apartment building and through the window.

Eating their own dinner of instant noodles with one egg split between them (the boiling water cooking it) and vegetables added; they placed the rest of their offerings by the 'kitchen' and put the what remained of the change they'd collected onto the kettle. As the sun was now set and they were both a little cold, they put their sweaters back on before they both settled in the corner again with a blanket, their bags hooked around their feet again.

* * *

When Gilbert arrived home from his shift he was surprised to see the pair sleeping again, seeming to not have moved. He then started when he turned and saw the pile of food that waited there on the side. Stepping around the board that creaked, he gently examined the small pile of instant noodles, the fresh fruit and vegetables and bread, his eyebrows raising a notch with each item. Then looking at the kettle and seeing the money there, his heart just about stopped especially when he picked up the dirty napkin the coins were wrapped in and saw what was written on it.

_Went to Saturday market today. Earned food and coins, please help ~~yourslefves~~ ~~yourself~~ yourselves to them. - Feli and Lovi_

The printing was crabbed and spidery and almost illegible (he didn't want to think about what that meant for the brats schooling) but he felt happy at the sentiment behind it. They were repaying his kindness yesterday and were also looking after him and his; they hadn't betrayed the trust he had put in them. He then looked at the boys again, a smug grin stealing across his features. He knew he'd been right and when the rest of his family got home, he was sure they would see it too.

* * *

_Flics (fr slang) – Police_

* * *

****Song for this chapter ** _Another Day in Paradise_  by Phil Collins**** **


	4. Cinderella Man

**AN- So hopefully this time around it's a bit easier to follow the characters around. Lovi and Feli are still the main characters/perspective though the Germanic and North America groups will take turns as a 'narrating' voice.**

**I don't own Hetalia**

* * *

_Advice for the young at heart. Soon we will be older!_

* * *

Lovi had intended for him and Feli to leave the following morning, not wanting to be dependent on a stranger's generosity for forever. But it was pouring rain so they stayed. Then the next day they were unable to find a safe place to bunk for the night and ran into Berwald and Ludwig on their way home so they stayed another night. The following day they didn't even make it out of the apartment before they then had an invitation to stay for the night when they and Roderich had been the only ones home when someone attempted to break in through the window and Lovi had clocked him with a can of tomatoes.

The days soon turned into weeks and then into a few months and just like that, it was late August and the Vargas brothers had become part of the Beilschmidt household.

They still contemplated leaving every now and again, but any time they any such hint, they got all manner of excuses and reasons not to until even Lovi threw in the towel and made only idle suggestions.

It was after the second week that they brought the pair with them for the shift work they had picked up in a nearby factory. As it was under the table, the shift times and how many of them needed to come in constantly changed but their contribution to their collective income kept them from missing a rent payment or from missing too many meals.

For the first time two years, Lovi and Feli were living relatively comfortably and felt safe. They had a safe place to sleep, more then one meal a day and others to depend on when they needed them. They were no longer alone.

And wasn't that a strange feeling.

* * *

The morning had started rather eventfully when furious Italian woke everyone from their sleep.

"BASTARDO, QUAL È MIO FRATELLO FACENDO NEL TUO LETTO?"

Which was then followed by a considerably more exhausted and resigned, "Why do you insist on sleeping in my bed?!"

This was becoming something of a morning tradition as the nights got colder for everyone to sleep closer together and it turns out Feliciano was still quite the snuggler. Meaning that he tended to burrow up as close to the warmest thing, which turns out to be Ludwig. So every morning, Lovi's overprotective brother instincts would come out when he woke to see Feli had rolled over in the middle of the night and had ended up curling around Ludwig.

Unless Ludwig had a different shift then Feli and was out when he went to bed resulting in the few memorable mornings when Lovi found him instead curled up close to Roderich or Gilbert.

Regardless, every morning, everyone pretended not to have noticed that Lovi had moved in his sleep until he was beside Feli causing him to what Gilbert bemusedly called the "cuddle pile".

So this morning started really no differently then any of the others in the past few weeks.

One of the things that Gilbert noticed with an approving eye was how the pair had gained a little bit of weight and no longer looked like a strong gust of wind could knock them over or like they could collapse any second. That and they had managed to scrounge enough money and gotten them some other 'new' (not ratty or with holes!) clothes at a used clothing store. Even better was how his family had taken to them: Roderich had begun helping them with schooling on a white board they had found so that writing was easier (and legible) and they could do more complicated math, Berwald could be found helping them at the market on Sundays and even Ludwig had relaxed enough around them to hold a conversation.

There was also that their portion of income was certainly helping with the 'bills'; allowing them to afford their apartment and still buy more food, a few more blankets and some of that fancy glue stuff that could be used to seal up the cracks in the walls and ceiling.

Sure it wasn't the life of absolute luxury but it was certainly a bit easier, even with two extra mouths to feed – his strays were pulling their weight and wasn't it just so satisfying that he was right. That if they gave them a chance, the two boys would be sure to not make them regret it.

Today was they all had the late shift so they had slept in until noon and as it was the middle of the week, it was time for a grocery run. Their savings together (not counting what was earmarked for rent or their meagre emergency fund) from the past pay check was about 15E for groceries to last them until Saturday when they got paid again.

Money in hand, Ludwig, Gilbert and Feliciano were sent out to barter for the cheapest dinner possible for the five of them. 15 Euro for as many five person meals as possible...they could make it work.

They would just have to make it work, Gil decided looking at the others still gaunt but happy face. He did not want to see that smile morph back into the resigned and exhausted expression he had when they first met or into the empty face of someone who has endured too much.

Not if he could help it.

He felt a smile stretch across his features as Ludwig soon had his hands full looking after the excitable Italian as he darted this way and that, seemingly sniffing out the best places to go, Gil following behind at a more sedate pace.

They were walking back with their spoils: ten packs of instant noodles, two cans of chili, a bag of ageing potatoes and some stale buns - the shopkeeper had even thrown 2 in for free as he was closing and getting rid of them – all in all a good haul. With all of that they should be able to make a decent stew that should last a few days... that's when they heard some muffled shouts of pain.

* * *

As they had been talking, Ludwig saw Feliciano's eyes widen in terror – his expression making it look as though he was the source of the shouts or was reliving some painful moment – before determination took it's place.

Before Ludwig could say anything, the brunette was darting off towards the narrow side street.

The Germans stood there stupefied over what had just happened before they both came to the simultaneous realization that skin-and-bones Feliciano had just run off to go interfere with what sounded like a fight.

_Verdammt._

With a sigh of one long suffering Ludwig chased after the Italian, Gilbert hot on his heels, following the sounds of battle to his housemate. As he did so, he mentally prepared himself for what was sure to be a harsh fight: street sights were rarely neat or fair things and were very unpredictable. Combatants either had nothing to lose and everything to win or everything to lose and so those involved were usually  _desperate_ making them infinitely more dangerous most trained fighters. No blow was too low, anything was a weapon and your morals held no ground in these battlegrounds.

As he darted around a corner, shoes sliding as they struggled to keep purchase on the smooth cobblestone, he mentally ran over the rules Gilbert had engrained in him since they had first begun living here.

Rule 1: Don't get in a street fight.

Rule 2: What did I just say?  _Don't_  get involved in a street fight.

Rule 3: If you ignore Rule 1 and 2, get away as soon as you can.

Rule 4: No one wins the fight. The 'loser' usually ends up in the hospital or dead and the 'winner' in prison or killed in turn in vengeance. Don't be either. Get out quick and make no more enemies then you need to.

Rule 5. Just because you don't see a weapon doesn't mean there isn't one.

Rule 6. Most fights are decided by a blow to the head. Protect it.

Rule 7. Most people die in fights due to blows when on the ground. Don't end up there.

Rule 8. Don't judge someone's skill by appearance. No matter their age or health or gender - just because your opponent isn't hulked out on steroids doesn't mean they won't shiv you through the ribs if you hesitate. With the right motivation even the weakest person can win a fight.

Rule 9. Don't underestimate anyone and don't relax your guard, even if they're down doesn't mean they're out.

"EEEEEEEEE-yah!"

**Clang**

As Ludwig emerged into a large open space between buildings, he saw Rule 8 in play.

It was evident what had happened by the scene they had burst in on. An older teenage girl was the one who had been attacked – as evidenced by her torn shirt, bruising arm and face and body language – by about twelve members of the Lost judging by red strip of cloth they wore around their wrists, the local gang. Impressively she had taken out three of them and was somehow holding her own.

Though judging by her slowing movements and the sounds of a switchblade clicking, that was unlikely to last especially when a kick to her arm resulted her dropping the pan.

"Ve~ You bullies! Leave her alone!"

Ludwig facepalmed as nine irate, armed gang members then turned to them. If he hadn't shouted they would've had surprise on their side, which would've been useful with the odds against them. He knew Feli was smarter then that, he'd have to be to survive on the streets as long as he had, so he wasn't sure why he yelled and gave them away... Seeing the girl slump in relief and cradle her arm he realized that perhaps it had been damaged more severely then it first seemed. If that arm was broken and she was without a weapon, the second one of them got too close, she would have been in some very big trouble.

He still didn't like that they lost the element of surprise though, even if it was a good reason.

In the second of pause that followed after Feli's shout Gilbert nudged his arm and turned his head in a silent order.  _You take the left side, I'll take the right_. Just like that, they then found themselves fighting for their lives as the gang members got over their surprise at their sudden appearance and they were charged.

Ludwig allowed himself a moment of fright before the instincts drilled into him by Gilbert took hold and he gave as good as he got, viciously targeting pressure points when the opportunity was presented. Hook. Jab. Side kick. Knee to stomach. Head butt. Body Drop Toss. Straight then uppercut. Bite when a hand gets too close. Elbow to neck.

He had knocked two out and was just dealing a knock out blow to his opponents throat when he heard a light yelp and he saw in the corner of his eye, Feliciano cornered and in danger.

The Italian had done pretty well for himself judging by the one unconscious at his feet but he was small and didn't have the greatest endurance due to malnourishment and the man he was up against was toying with him. He could see the blade flickering, leaving thin ribbons of red against Feli's skin as he attempted to dodge.

Thinking quickly, he grabbed a garbage can lid and whipped it at them like a Frisbee. The lid bounced off his head causing him to turn from his prey to see who had attacked him. A mistake. Feliciano used that moment of distraction to his advantage, grabbing a piece of a broken 2 by 4 and swinging it like a bat. When it connected, the man's head snapped back and he crumpled to the ground, unconscious.

Looking to his right he saw the woman had recovered her pan and, using her other hand, was dealing some serious damage with it against any who approached her, mowing down her assailants like grass. Gilbert, nearby, was having no trouble and had taken out four of them on his own and was finishing off the last one standing.

Limping over to where the panting girl stood, Ludwig slowly reached out a hand and laid it on her shoulder.

"Excuse me miss, but are you alright?"

Bad idea it turns out as the jumpy, adrenaline high girl rounded and smacked him across the face with her salvaged pan.

He blacked out, the first (but not last) Beilschmidt to fall to the might of cast iron.

* * *

" _WHAT IS THIS ELIZABETA? THIS, THIS, THIS, FILTH!"_

_Elizabeta just tucked her head down as her mother and father screamed at her. They had found her yaoi collection and they were as right wing and conservative (not to mention being behind by a century or two) as you could really get._

_Meaning, as they were also extremely religious, her love for the stuff was just as bad if she went goth or became a practising Wicca or god-forbid, an activist promoting any rights besides that of middle-class white Catholic males._

_She fucking hated it here._

_It was stifling._

" _GET RID OF THIS SODOMY AND YOU ARE FORBIDDEN FROM LEAVING THE HOUSE FOR THE NEXT YEAR!"_

" _But what about school?"  
"YOU DON'T NEED AN EDUCATION! YOU ARE A WOMAN! WORTHLESS! YOU WILL STAY HOME AND LEARN SOMETHING USEFUL FROM YOUR MOTHER!"_

_Well, something just snapped there. She had put up with this for 14 years of her life, growing insecurities as she felt she couldn't live up to their expectations._

" _ALL I'VE EVER LEARNT FROM HER WAS HOW I DON'T WANT TO LIVE MY LIFE AND FROM YOU I LEARNT HOW TO BE A NARROW MINDED BIGOT!"_

_With that she ran past him, out of the house and into the woods, only 20 Euro now to her name._

* * *

Elizabeta woke with a gasp and struggled to escape the remnants of her dream. It had been 3 years since then and she was out of there now, beyond their grasp. They could not find her, could not touch her, could not drag her back to that...that hell!

She looked around the moonlit room and listened to the quiet snores of its occupants, smiling slightly when she saw Feli had crawled in with Ludwig again. Lovi, she noted with a smirk, already missing the body heat had followed so there was now an Italian dog pile on top of the deeply sleeping German.

That would be a fun argument in the morning; she had only been here three days and was already used to that morning ritual.

When her body was racked by a light shiver, she decided it might not be such a bad idea. So she pushed her cushion over, crawled over to the three and she snuggled up to Ludwig's back. Much warmer.

Her mind swung back to the past few days. Immediately after realizing she had knocked one of her saviours out, she had proceeded to panic. Feliciano had also burst into tears beside her and begun to freak out, worrying that his friend was dead. Gilbert on the other hand had just made sure his brother was alright (just unconscious) before he then began to laugh.

So all in all, when Ludwig woke a few minutes later a little disoriented with a headache, he was surrounded by madness. Feli had immediately hugged him and began sobbing incoherently into his shoulder and she had begun to babble apologies while Gil had just continued to laugh. She wasn't entirely sure how she had ended up with an invite back to their place but she had. In fact, she was surprised how easily she had been accepted into this weird makeshift family.

Lovino had freaked out over Feliciano being in a fight but had only been angry at his brother when he learned that he was responsible for getting them involved. He had since been a bit clingy, rarely letting Feli out of his sight. Ludwig and Roderich had easily accepted her presence, muttering about Gilbert and his strays while Berwald had appeared to be furious with her while he was checking Ludwig to make sure he was alright. Later though, Roderich assured her he just typically looked angry, he was actually just worried for his cousin. Gilbert had been the one to invite her to stay, saying that they needed someone to keep them on their toes; though to Ludwig's annoyance, he continued to laugh every time he say her with her pan.

Then he had his own meeting with cast iron death.

They soon became well acquainted friends, Gilbert and Pan, though everyone said it was an abusive relationship, they just couldn't stop seeing each other.

Pan saw Roderich every now and again, even Lovino had had a chance run in with him. It was only Berwald who had managed to escape meeting Elizabeta's 'best friend'

Though for all the minor annoyances that came with her new roommates, it was something of a relief living here. Living with those who understood her situation, with those who understood the horrible consequences and price that came with it.

Her ears perked when she heard a light shuffling of a sheet and some light grunts. Turning her head she could Berwald who had been sleeping near her, pat the air as he slept before he shifted closer. She quickly guessed that he was now cold...  _Oh that was just too cute!_ , she decided and she shifted out from the blankets and gently dragged his cushion (and him with it!) and brought him over to the pile.

Now only if Roderich and Gilbert would join in...

* * *

"I honestly have no idea what to say besides,  _why_ are you  _all_  in  _my bed_?" Ludwig said the next morning when he woke up, pushing cornstalk yellow hair back off his forehead.

"Cause you're warm~" Answered Feliciano, muttering into the German's side.

"Very much so." Agreed the Hungarian from the other side and Berwald nodded once firmly as well from his spot on top of Ludwig.

Looking over, she jumped in surprise when she saw Roderich's face so close to hers and at their feet was Gilbert, both of them asleep. It looked like they had all ended up cold last night, she thought amused.

Then Lovino woke, curled up under Ludwig's arm and began to flip out.

 _Boy was it nice to have some semblance of normalcy._ She thought as she laughed as Lovino was beaned with a pillow from a half-asleep Gilbert which then prompted a friendly wrestling match resulting in them both in a headlock courtesy of Ludwig who had had enough of their early morning shenanigans.

* * *

 

**Song for this Chapter _Cinderella Man_ by Eminem**

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**Translations**

_Bastardo, qual è mio fratello facendo nel tuo letto?_ (It- You bastard, what's my brother doing in your bed)


	5. Feel It In My Bones

**I don't own Hetalia**

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_I take my desires for reality because I believe in the reality of my desires._

* * *

Al woke slowly as sunlight began to filter through the cracks in the windows of the church, his body screaming in protest as awakening nerves began to alert him of the state of his abused body. Last nights fights had been brutal and as he slowly sat up, he felt like an old man as each movement brought further ache and pain to his attention.

Matt dozed on the pew beside him and Miguel stirred slightly as Al got up but stilled after a whispered reassurance. Good, they could both use the sleep.

Knowing they had no food, he made his way as quietly as he could to their door; pausing to stretch until he no longer felt like one giant ache and each step no longer making every muscle complain. Before he left, he went to the heap of bricks by the door and shifted a few around to withdraw their savings and took a few bills from it.

Fishing a keychain of the flame of liberty out of his pocket, he hung it from the nail by the door to let his brothers know that he was out. He began heading towards the city centre, walking along the cobblestone, towards where he knew there to be a cheap market. He loved the early morning, a light fog hanging around the streets and the sun just beginning to rise.

As his body warmed and loosened a bit more, he began to jog, ignoring the twinging of his sore muscles as he did so. Turning, he then got up on the sidewalk and towards one of the many bridges to span the Seine.

After about fifteen minutes, he had reached the Pont de Levallois and slowed to a walk again when he spotted a familiar head of brown hair.

Al had seen the boy and his brother around a lot, mostly on his early morning grocery runs. The pair looking thin and exhausted, sleeping under bridges, begging and wandering aimlessly around the streets. Every now and again when he could he would give them a Euro or two and when he couldn't, he would at least smile and say hello and he had helped them out of one or two tight spots when some pathetic excuses for human beings decided it would be funny to harass them. It was strange now to see one without the other, the boy sitting on a bench facing the water scowling down at the notebook in his hands.

He was pretty sure it was the older twin judging just from his surly expression... The teen looked good, the enormous dark circles under his eyes had faded, he had put on some weight and he looked more like his age instead of an eleven year old.

Looking at his watch (held together with tape, wire and a prayer), he realized he had time to stop and chat for a bit, the market he was going to not opening for another half hour.

"Hey Lovi." He greeted as he walked over.

The other jumped and turned with a glare, though his expression softened a bit when he saw it was him. "Hey Al."

"Long time no see." He said casually as he sat down with a sigh, his tired body glad for the break.

"Yeah." Lovi answered softly, looking down at his notebook, a small smile growing on his face. "We finally caught a break."

"That's good to hear." Al said wistfully, "at least one of us has. If you don't mind me asking, how?"

"Feli tried to pick the wrong pocket." Lovi replied with a snort, "the other was like us and offered us a roof for the night. Not out of pity or I would have refused but out of...understanding, you know? We repaid them as best we could and before I knew it, we were living with them. Now that we don't look like death, we were both able to get jobs. Shitty work, but work."

"Good on you." Alfred grinned. While the pair had never really confided in him – nor him in them, details were too personal and could be dangerous – he knew enough that he didn't feel any envy. Just a small happiness that at least one of them had managed to get a 'life'.

"You still in fights?" Lovi asked cautiously after a moment of silence, taking in his bruises.

"Yeah." Al chocked out, happy mood immediately gone. "Good for nothing else really."

Lovi remained quiet, just giving him a sympathetic expression. That was something Alfred was grateful for. Whenever he ran into the twins and they talked, they didn't judge.

It was into that non-judgemental silence that he quietly confessed. "I think I will be until the day it either kills me or gets me sent to prison. Just hoping that me n' Matt don't manage to drag down my youngest brother with us. He's a bright kid and we've managed to keep him clean of this business."

Lovi nodded sympathetically, "I felt the same with Feli. I managed to save up a bit and got these exercise books so we could pick up where we left off." He held up his notebook so Al could see the title, it was a ninth grader work book before continuing with a humourless chuckle. "And you know what he did? He filled it in with pencil, finished it before erasing everything and giving it to me so I could do it too."

He looked down at the book and confided, "I'm not upset that he did that, it's just...even though we're twins, I'm older. I'm supposed to look after him. He's not supposed to have a care in the world, never mind worrying about me. It's such a small thing but it bugs me; makes me feel like I've failed him."

Al nodded, knowing exactly what he meant, having felt the same for years. Matt had beat it into his head that they were family and looked after each other but the feeling wasn't rational and still bugged him when doubts crept out in the wee hours of the morning.

"That's family though," he slowly said, mimicking Matt's usual spiel. "My brother always says that they look out for each other whether you want them to or not. You can't shoulder all the responsibility on your own or you'd be crushed, no matter how much you want to spare them the burden, you've got to share the load sometimes."

Lovi sighed and looked out to the other side of the river before he murmured. "I know."

"But you still want to protect them anyway." Al admitted with a laugh before he stood up. "I should probably get going."

"Nice seeing you." Lovi replied, opening his notebook to his incomplete exercise. "Hope some good luck comes your way."

"Thanks." He answered, "I hope your luck continues." He was about to cross the bridge when a thought occurred to him. "Where'd you get that book?" He shouted as his thoughts raced.

"There's a place on Boulevard de la Somme, you can't miss it!" Lovi shouted back.

* * *

Tucking his ID badge into his pocket and taking off his gloves, Feli groaned as they left the factory, delighting in the clean air outside. No matter how many fans were put in the warehouse area, the air was stale and sweltering inside.

Their shift had begun at 11h and it was now 19h, so they were escaping the hot and stuffy place for the cooler and crisp air at dusk. However, despite how nice the cool air made them all feel, it also made them hyper aware of how their clothing stuck to their skin and how gross they felt after the shift work.

Then an idea occurred to him. Their apartment had only a sink and toilet and while bathing using the sink was easy enough, it was nice to actually bathe every now and again and not wait for their turn. To that end, they sometimes went by the pool and paid for a 'swim' when they really went to use their showers as it was a cheap way to get clean. Though they couldn't do it too often or it would look strange as they never actually used the pool considering they didn't actually have swimsuits. The night tonight was warm though and they were only a few blocks away from the Parc des Princes and the Lac Superieur – they could go swimming.

Yes, technically, they weren't supposed to but breaking the law in this case really wouldn't hurt anyone, they could do so discretely and quickly. It was nearly nightfall so there shouldn't be any tourists around and maybe only a handful of people to avoid anyway.

Stretching a bit and grimacing when his shirt stuck to him, he began to pitch his idea to the others.

* * *

After arguing for a bit, they had agreed to go to the park, though to appease both him and Lovino who were apprehensive, they decided to take turns in order to minimize the potential for discovery. So Berwald, Gilbert, Roderich and Elizabeta were going first then Feliciano, Lovino and he were going.

Ludwig looked around in trepidation as the others made their way through the foliage towards the water. Even though the spot they'd picked was off the beaten path and was heavily shaded by trees and there were plants everywhere; there was still a chance that someone would discover them and he couldn't help fretting. If the wrong person stumbled upon them, they could get arrested and thrown into the system or deported or... his mind spun thousands of improbable horrors if they were discovered. On the other hand, the water looked cool and inviting and the feeling of dried sweat of his skin was somewhat unpleasant...

He knew he was being slightly ridiculous but he couldn't help but fear for the safety and happiness for his family and looked around again before ducking into the foliage to join them. As the first four began to shuck their clothes, he looked away, back to where the path was; partly to keep a look out and partly from a sense of modesty he was unable to shake. As Elizabeta had explained when she became a permanent resident that she appreciated their attempts to give her some privacy that it wasn't really necessary as three years on the road had desensitized her to shame. He could feel his ears burn as he watched a squirrel run up a tree just thinking about it; she seemed to care as much as Gilbert when it came to nudity.

It was still rather warm out so as the first four slipped into the water he took off his shirt, welcoming the night air on his warm skin.

A slight crunching of the leaves let him know that either Feli or Lovi had wandered and he turned his head to greet the other before freezing.

He had seen Feli without a shirt before, he'd seen him in even less as their close quarters at the apartment didn't really allow for a lot of privacy but this was the first time he could recall seeing his friend so close and the way the low light hit his skin... He could see a network of thin scars covering Feli's skin and his stomach dropped at the reminder at the hand the other had been dealt at life.

He was glad that for the first few months of living with them that the brothers had insisted on changing in their bathroom. If Ludwig had seen those scars while his friend looked a step above a famine victim, well, he isn't sure what he would've done. Maybe wrap the pair in lambswool and never let the back out in the cruel world again.

"It's alright Ludwig." Feli said softly, jolting him out of his thoughts and causing him to blush again upon realizing that he'd been staring. "Most of these were a long time ago."

"Sorry." He muttered, looking back out at the path mortified that he'd been staring. "I didn't notice them before and was surprised."

"Don't be." Feliciano answered, gently punching the his shoulder. "They're not a big deal, I got most of them early on and by doing something stupid. As Lovi and I got used to the road and learned the ropes, we were fine so stop making that sad face, it's okay."

"Not a big deal?" He whispered, glancing down and his eyes immediately going to a long one that went from Feli's shoulder to his hip. "Light scratches don't scar like that Feli. I'm pretty sure I don't really want to know but..."

"Stop looking like we kicked your puppy, we lived." Lovino announced, bumping his other shoulder as Ludwig jumped, not having heard him come over. "Yeah things were shitty and sometimes people were bastards but we're here now so get over it."

Ludwig suppressed a wince at the other's bluntness but knew it was the brash brother's way of both conflict resolution and reassurance so he managed a weak smile and answered "I'll try."

"Good. Now come on, it's our turn and I'd like to be home before the sun rises again so get your asses in gear, yeah?"

Turning to follow him to the water, Ludwig was aghast to see the other brother's back was covered in even more scars then Feli's was.

He didn't want to know but that night when they got home, he plunked his cushion and blanket beside the pair and ended up curled around them both protectively as they slept.

* * *

The fight tonight was bad.

He had thought the one a few weeks ago had been bad but he had been wrong. This night had turned into little more than a blood bath.

The underground ring was in the territory of the Lost and there had been a change in leadership about a month ago. Arthur, the old leader had been a pretty decent sort in the three years he'd been in control of the territory. It was why Miguel and his brothers had picked out the place they had as while it wasn't a good neighbourhood, they could trust Arthur to keep a tight fist on his people and keep the violence to a minimum.

But with the coup, the new leader had stabilized his position and now was more or less demanding blood sport. Fighters were given knives, brass knuckles and bats, the ropes and cage were electrified, the 'fights' were slanted, some members of the Lost even participated and as the evening came to a close only a few were walking out on their own power, everyone else either needing a hand or a stretcher.

He wasn't sure what the hell had caused the gang leader to exert his authority like that, perhaps the owner hadn't paid his cut or he was dissatisfied with the percent he got or perhaps even he had just needed an example made. Regardless, he had cowed all who had attended from gamblers to the 'coaches' to sponsors. Quickly, he discreetly ushered his only family into one of the back rooms where his first aid kit was waiting, fidgeting worriedly. He quickly looked over Alfred; he had gotten off lucky tonight compared to pretty much everyone else, his right arm was broken, his nose was bloody and possibly broken, his left eye was swelling and darkening into what would be a spectacular shiner, a few deep cuts that could use a few stitches and scrapes and bruises everywhere. He quickly looked after the knife cuts, splint the arm, set the nose (is was broken) and got some paper towel wet with cold water for him to put on his eye before concluding that everything else could wait.

He then turned his attention to Matthew who also had bruises and small cuts everywhere along with several broken fingers, a dislocated knee, a broken nose, a dislocated jaw, some (he hoped) cracked ribs, a gash at his temple and upon further investigation Miguel decided that he was also severely concussed on top of his other injuries. Looking into the pupils and seeing that they weren't reacting properly with the light and that he didn't seem to aware of them seemed to only confirm this – he was barely hanging onto consciousness. He started with relocating Matt's knee and jaw, bandaging his head and setting his broken fingers (three on the left, two on the right) and nose before taping up the ribs as best he could but they and the concussion as they were beyond his skill to treat.

An assistant came around and gave them their 'winnings' for the night - which after Al checked, appeared that it would sustain them for a while and also allow them to pay the ring doctor to look at what Miguel didn't know how to. However, after they had Matthew supported between the two of them and they were walking through the hallways, they heard the slamming of doors, sirens and angry shouts from the entrance. A look shared between them and the knowledge that they needed to hurry, Miguel got Alfred to quickly help him get Matthew a piggy-back and they began to run, Miguel doing his best not to jostle his passenger as they headed to where there was a hidden exit. Hearing cries of "Police! Les mains en l'air!" nearby had them pick up the pace as they turned down another corridor, down a flight of stairs before they ran out one of the secret passages, disappearing into the alleys.

Once they'd got a reasonable distance away, they stopped by a dumpster to wait for all the commotion to die down before trying to find someone who could treat them on the side. However, they began to panic when they realized that Matthew had lost consciousness; which was always dangerous with a severe concussion and bleeding head wound.

"Excuse me misters, but is he alright?"

The two jumped as a kid, no more then ten, dropped into their line of vision, hanging upside down from the fire escape.

Both of them would later deny any sort of unmanly screams at the sudden appearance of said ten year old but were too stunned to move.

Flipping down, the boy landed gracefully before peering closely at the unconscious person.

"Nope! Doesn't look okay! Actually, all three of you look terrible! C'mon, I'll take you to Ajeossi, he'll know what to do!" With that he turned and bounced down the narrow alley away from the populated street.

Finding his voice, Alfred said "P-pardon?"

"Ajeossi! He knows all sorts of medicine! He'll be able to help!"

Deciding wordlessly that they didn't have a better option (after all they couldn't afford a trip to the hospital), they followed the other into the darkness.

"Did you know medicine originated in Korea?"

* * *

 _Police! Les mains en l'air!_ (Fr- Police! Hands up!)

 _Ajeossi - 아저씨_ (Kor- Uncle and Big brother)

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**This chapter's song: Feel It In My Bones by (Tiësto ft. Tegan & Sara)**

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**Please review!**


	6. You Get What You Give

**AN-** **The italicized conversation is Mandarin. Just having to go back and forth as a reader to check translations for conversations is frustrating I know so just imagine instead.**

**Also thank you DianeJasmine for the French correction. I have been learning French since I was four but I've never managed to keep the rules for when to use 'en' vs 'dans' straight. Which is kind of sad but in my defence, we didn't really learn grammar until high school – instead we talked a lot and did book reports and then got to learn it all at once. :P**

**The Graffiti mentioned (the italic one-liners after the AN) in this was seen all over Paris in the late 60's- early 70's**

**I do not own Hetalia**

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_If you can keep your head when everyone else is losing theirs, maybe you haven't understood the situation._

* * *

Yong Soo wandered around the square, not really paying attention; his mind instead buzzing with all the potential reasons his parents did what they had. It had been four full years now since Ajeossi Thai had found him here, waiting for his parents to return. Worried that he was alone, he had waited with him and when night fell and they weren't back, he had invited him to stay with his family for the night.

So Yong Soo had and then come back the next day, and the next, and the one following that and waited at the statue until it became clear that something had either happened to his parents or they weren't coming back.

He wasn't the only one, the kindly couple who had insisted he just call them Viet and Thai had taken in a number of strays over the years. They had both been doctors where they came from but after running into issues with their families over their engagement, they had eloped together and moved to France and had opened a restaurant together. Yao had been with them the longest, abandoned on their doorstep and frequently ran errands for them as he was considered old enough to do so. Kiku, Kaoru and Mei Mei had all been found on the streets like him and they had opened their doors to them.

After Kaoru and Mei Mei were adopted into their little family, the small apartment above the restaurant that Viet and Thai shared was too small so Viet leased the small, one room in the next door building for them. It was cozy and next to the boiler but it was always warm and it was theirs. Viet and Thai were the only other people that the five of them had ever trusted besides one another, having been betrayed far too often by the others.

They were his family and he was happy yet he couldn't stop himself from returning to the square on this day, the anniversary of his abandonment, in hopes of seeing his parents again in the crowd. Sometimes one of Ajeossi Thai's other strays would come with him for the day but this year, he had wanted to be alone.

He leaned back up against the cool marble of the statue, watching the world pass him by, feeling utterly drained. Below him was an artist sitting on the steps of the monument, sketching the street opposing with it's cafes and various stores. There was a trio of young boys sitting on a small wall eating their lunch, the boy with the keffiyeh one passing the bottle of water to the sleepy looking one on his right. There was a group of tourists taking pictures of everything near them and then there was also the kebab vendor to their left. There was a young university student to his left scattering pigeons as he ran across the square before he tripped in front of him and both his coffee and the papers he was holding scattered.

"Tatti!" The man cursed as he frantically tried to gather them before the wind could blow them into the Seine.

Yong Soo hurried down the steps to go help, catching a few attempting to fly away before going over to where the other knelt on the ground flipping through the pages trying to determine if he was missing any.

"Here you go." He said, offering the pages he had gathered to the stranger earning a blinding smile in return.

"Thank you! I have a presentation later today for my Advanced calculus lecture I didn't see that loose cobblestone there and...thank you!" The other babbled as he sorted the pages and flicked through them again before he slumped in relief in seeing that they were all there. He then stood abruptly and made to walk away before taking a step back and offering his hand. "Aadya. Nice to meet you and thank you again."

"Yong Soo. No worries. See you around." Yong Soo answered, awkwardly taking the hand and shaking it.

As he went back up to his spot and sat back down, he noted that the tourists had moved on while two teens had arrived, standing nearby.

He had meant to back to people watching but instead he found himself interested in what the pair were saying.

"If Al doesn't get here soon we'll be late." The blond fretted, squinting as he looked around the square.

The younger looking one with dreads put a hand on his shoulder and reassured him. "He'll be here. He knows that the new leader of the Lost is demanding all fighters come in and with any winnings you earn tonight we should be able to afford a hot meal or two besides the usual groceries. Al may be reckless but calling the attention of a gang leader because we're late isn't like him."

"What if he's held up?" The other continued to fidget.

"He'll be here come hell or high water. Calm down Matt, there's still plenty of time for him to get here; you need to stop worrying so much."

"As you say Miguel." Matt answered wryly. "I can't help it though, you're my only family. Of course I worry about you both."

He didn't know that the Lost had a new leader. Arthur was known around the area for being a bit strange (kind of crazy actually) but overall fair. As long as he got a cut, he didn't interfere and he kept violence down, unless of course you were a rival in his territory.

In fact, while the overall crime rate for the area remained about the same, the more 'domestic' crime rate had gone down as Arthur was known for his harsh judgements on those found to be abusive or rapists. And by harsh, he meant traumatizing; Yong Soo had heard some of the stories and felt the hairs on his skin raise just from recalling the description.

The pair waved as another blond came around the corner and ran over to join them and began to walk out of the square.

Yong Soo looked at his watch before getting up to follow them, it was dusk and about the time he normally left anyway; if he followed them, he could see the new leader and get a feel for him. He and his family were in the Lost's territory and Yong Soo liked making sure as best he could that there would be no surprises for his family to deal with.

* * *

He had never seen so much blood in his life.

It had taken Yong Soo a while to sneak in as he knew that the bouncers guarding the entrance would never allow a non-paying eleven year old inside. That would be just stupid so instead he'd had to sneak around before managing to get in through one of the building's upper floor's window.

He had then made his way downstairs and had hidden in the rafters while it appeared the previous fight had just finished and the next one had yet to begin. He had looked around the room before spotting who he guessed to be the new leader.

His first though was that he was dangerous and the second was that he was ugly. He had scars everywhere, a somewhat manic look in his eyes and a cruel sneer stretching across his sallow-looking skin. It was odd, the crowd seemed somewhat subdued as the next fighters made their way to the ring; it seemed Ugly was the only one it seemed who was actually happy to be there.

In a few moments he realized why as the match turned more into what he would have expected to have seen in the Coliseum in Rome during one of their many wars when they had plenty of prisoners to send to the slaughter.

The fights didn't end with first blood drawn, with some point system or from being knocked out/down, it ended when the other fighter was completely incapacitated.

After the first fight, he knew if he remained, he was going to be sick but it wasn't safe for him to move from his hiding place (because he did not want to imagine what could happen if he was caught having snuck into this place) until three fights later.

Once he managed to get out of the room, he went back to the fifth floor he had entered in and was sick in the bathroom. He then staggered over to a nearby desk and called the police on the blood sport that was happening but a few metres below before high tailing it out of there. After all, he didn't want to be found to be the one to have ratted the operation out if the Lost decided to seek revenge.

He went from roof to roof before descending on one of the fire escapes and sitting on the first landing to catch his breath and to stop his hands from shaking.

He's about to figure out a safe way to get down (as there's no ladder connection) when he hears shuffling and frantic whispering. Ducking back into the shadows, he sees the three from before stagger down the alley, the two blonds looking in rough shape while the younger one with dreads looks terrified. They duck in beside the dumpster, hiding from the mouth of the alley as cars rush past.

"At least they paid us and the right amount too before the cops got there." The boy with dreads (Miguel? He was pretty sure that's what he had been called before) whispered bitterly. "So we can afford a doctor."

"Yeah." The blonde who'd been late replied voice just as low. "Also on the bright side, we're finally free from the Old Man. He can't really blackmail us from prison, not when he doesn't know where we live and it's not like we're registered in any system. Right Matt?"

"Matt?"

"Shit! He's passed out!"

"How do we wake him?"

"Do we wake him?"

"I don't think you're supposed to let someone with a concussion sleep!"

"Shit!"

As the pair began to panic below him, Yong Soo mulled over his options. They were badly hurt and at least one needed medical attention and they had been injured in those horrifying fights which they were (from the sound of things) made to participate in. On the other hand, they could pose a danger to his family. But could he leave them being and possibly have the one boys death on his head?

Damn it.

"Excuse me misters, but is he alright?" He said as he swung down from his knees into their line of vision, his feet hooking on the bars to keep him from sliding and dropping. The pair yelped and froze so he rolled his eyes and flipped down to take a closer look at the unconscious blonde.

"Nope! Doesn't look okay! Actually, all three of you look terrible! C'mon, I'll take you to Ajeossi, he'll know what to do!" He said flippantly, his stomach lurching again at the damage he saw before he turned and bounced down the narrow alley away from the populated street.

Behind him he could hear the late blonde stammer, "P-pardon?"

"Ajeossi!" He answered over his shoulder, gesturing with his hand from them to follow. "He knows all sorts of medicine! He'll be able to help!"

After a moment he heard them get up and hurry to follow and couldn't resist childishly saying, "Did you know medicine originated in Korea?"

* * *

They were a few blocks away when it began to pour rain so they paused and tossed Miguel's hoody over him before continuing as ultimately exposure to the rain would be slightly better for Matthew then the jostling of his injuries (especially considering the possibly broken ribs) for the remaining distance.

They ducked into their grungy looking apartment building and went down a floor of stairs to the basement where he fumbled with his keys before letting them all in. Kicking off his shoes, he ran into the living room where he spotted Yao reading book.

" _Yao! I, well not I but I found some people who need medical help! Can you help them?"_

Yao looked surprised and even a little shocked, probably because he – who his eldest brother was always chiding to be less jaded about the world – had brought some strangers home and then grimaced seeing the puddles they were forming on the ground. However, Yao recovered quickly and gestured for the unconscious twin to be spread out on the futon they had on the ground and then for the other who was obviously quite hurt to sit down. He then began going over the Primary Vital check and then the Secondary check with both brothers.

He knew that his older brother, despite having taken various first aid classes and learning from Viet and Thai, was not the best choice but it wasn't like he could run into the open restaurant with a bunch of injured teens.

That would be ridiculous.

Yao stood up from where he had been kneeling and brushed his palms off his pants and his and the attention of his three 'siblings' who had come to investigate all the ruckus.

" _Kiku, could you please go to my closet and grab whatever clothing you think will fit our guests? Mei Mei would you please go get them some towel? Kaoru would you please find some blankets and keep an eye on them? Yong Soo, since you're already soaked, would you mind going to go fetch Thai or Viet? Their untreated injuries are beyond my skill to help."_

Nodding, the four quickly set about their tasks, Mei Mei and Kiku scurrying out of the room while Kaoru directed the youngest to the bathroom telling him to get his wet things off in uncertain French and Yao continued to look after the injured blondes.

Yong Soo quickly went out the door, locking it and then ran upstairs and out onto the street. He wasn't paying the best attention in his hurry though and crashed into a small group of people, nearly knocking the smallest blonde to the ground.

"Watch where you're going imbecile!" Shouted the brunet, moving protectively in front of the bespectacled boy while the thinner brunet with a strange hair curl helped the other up.

"I'm sorry!" Yong Soo quickly said. "You are not hurt?"

Before the other could say anything, the younger blonde with slicked back hair interrupted. "Berwald is alright and Roderich is just a bit grouchy. Long day." Grabbing him by the arm he began to drag him off.

Yong Soo heard him mutter "Do you want to waste anymore time getting home? Bruder and Elizabeta are home  _alone_ with no one to stop any sort of mischief or fights they get into but Lovino who probably won't."

Deciding it was none of his business, he hurried into the restaurant just before it closed and caught Viet's eye. Quickly explaining what little he knew, Viet then ran upstairs to grab her things and Thai gave Yong Soo a small plate of food with a wink. "Teenagers are always hungry, ana~ I will come over as soon as we are closed as well."

* * *

None of Yao's clothes fit very well but Thai's did, though it was a bit tight in the shoulder's, Al mused as he and Miguel, now both dry and warm were sitting around the kotatsu table, sipping at the offered herbal tea. While it was bitter but it took the ache of their limbs away.

Looking across the small room, they saw an older Asian man with glasses, short spiky hair a white shirt and black pants and an Asian woman with long black hair wearing a long green dress-thing with white pants leaning over their unconscious brother. Thai and Viet had been quite nice, Viet explaining what she was doing for Matt and Thai treating Al's own injuries with gentle fingers, going over the Miguel's work before getting them the aforementioned tea.

Besides the hyper Yong Soo who had led them there, there was a sympathetic looking Asian teen who placed a small plate of snacks in front of the suddenly ravenous duo. After a brief glance to make sure that it was alright, the two promptly cleared the plate.

After finishing the last dumpling, Alfred returned from famished eating machine to worried older/younger (they couldn't remember anymore, Al was pretty sure he was older though) brother.

"Do...do you think he'll be alright?"

"He is with Viet and Thai, they were both doctors where they came from. If anyone can help, they could. He should be just fine aru."

Looking over at his brother's bloodied face, Al felt himself worry all over again.

Honestly, Alfred wasn't sure what had caused him to trust Yong Soo and then the ones he called family with the life of his precious brother.

Maybe it was because he had no other actual option.

Maybe because it was still instinctive at some level to let the adults take over the situation.

He wasn't sure, but now in Yong Soo and Yao's apartment and exhausted, he could only hope he'd made the right call.

"Now why is you and your brother so hurt?" Yao asked curiously as he returned to the room (he had just put the younger four to bed).

Alfred just grimaced. "It's a long story..."

Yao glanced to the side at Matthew. "I think we have much time. What happened?"

"Well, to start at the beginning I guess. I don't believe I've introduced myself, I'm Alfred and he's Miguel, Matthew there is my twin brother. Our father was a bit of a flirt, he'd love 'em and leave 'em as they say. We're the only siblings we know of, but judging by his behaviour, even when married to our mother we could have another thirteen or fifty even!" Al said with a deprecating laugh.

He took a sip of his tea before he continued. "That's not really the point, but you get the idea the kinda man he was and he attracted the same kind of people. Looking back on it now I can see the sort of slime he was but as kids we adored him. For some reason or another, he married our mother, who was just as fickle and hateful as he was. Even while married they both had a number of affairs, one of which got our Mom pregnant again two years after us, this time with Miguel here. We were always moving around because of the amount of debt the two would rack up living vicariously. As kids we didn't notice this, we thought it was fun and exciting to move around, to see all sorts of new places. It was when we were in Paris that we had the wool lifted from our eyes. In the middle of the night, we overheard them talking, they were planning on selling us to some sort of sick brothel and then taking off...so we took off first."

Al paused then, feeling almost twice his age. "Since then, Christ it's been about nine years now, we've been living as best we could. The first year was bad, we nearly starved and ended up on the Gravestones bad side. I don't know if you heard of them, the Lost absorbed them and their territory about four years ago but they were a vicious bunch. The Old Man took us in, made us indebted to us and brought us into the world of underground fighting. Because we 'owed' him, he sent us into the ring and for each loss, he added more and more into our 'debt' and gathered any blackmail he could on us. That he knew that we were squatting somewhere or it was on people we know, like he'd mention the Doctor who we trusted to patch us up under the table if it appeared that we were trying to get out. We learned how to hit hard, how to handle the weapons they gave us, how to get out of the ring with the least damage possible. Luckily Miguel had asthma as a kid and though as he grew up, it went away, we had him play it up and were able to keep him away from the ring."

Miguel then jumped in with a frown, gesturing at him to drink his tea. Al did, amused; he didn't know how but Miguel always knew when they were pushing themselves and his throat  _did_  feel like sandpaper. "The fights tonight were something else. We got word that everyone was supposed to come in; the Old Man made it sound like we were supposed to put on a 'show' for the new leader of the Lost. And I suppose it was, a very bloody one. The man was perhaps using this to make a point or to exercise his authority or perhaps just for his perverse enjoyment but most of the fighters there tonight will likely be having to 'retire' due to their injuries. We got off lucky."

Yao let out a low whistle and Viet softly clapped a hand on Al's shoulder, "That is a hard tale, thank you for trusting us with it."

Yao added on in a low voice. "We are in a similar boat as you. We were all abandoned by our parents, left on the streets, Viet and Thai took us in."

A pain filled groan filled the air causing all of them to turn to where Thai was leaning over Matt on the futon.

"Mattie..." Al said softly, not realizing his good hand had shot out to grip Yao's shoulder tightly and shook him a little. "Do you think Matt... I..."  **Thunk.**

Behind him stood an equally exhausted looking Miguel who then proceeded to gently manhandle his unconscious brother onto the couch. "Sorry about that, he tends to refuse to sleep when worried or when someones hurt (even himself) and doesn't really think. You alright?"

"I...am fine. You know pressure points aru?" Asked Yao, shocked, getting up to help him.

"Not really, just the bit I've learned from TV shows. I haven't killed him yet, so I guess I'm doing it right." The Cuban said, giving him a thumbs up.

 _Westerners are strange_ was what Yao thought as they settled in again to wait.

An hour or so later, Viet and Thai stood up, saying that they had done all they could and gave further instructions on what to do. Matt did have a severe concussion in addition to two cracked and four broken ribs.

Both Viet and Thai complemented Miguel on his treatment of the pair's injuries, especially his neat stitches, causing the boy to flush, embarrassed but pleased.

"Thank you for all your help." Miguel whispered – so as to not wake the others in the house – while gently nudging Alfred awake who then sat up groggily.

"No problem." Yao said warmly, giving a reassuring smile in return.

"'Litooooo. Why'd you wake me?"

"My name is Miguel, Alphonse." Miguel snapped automatically. "Viet and Thai are done looking after Mattie so I thought it best to get going." Nodding, Alfred moved to get up (though he scowled at being called Alphonse).

"You are leaving?" Said Yao surprised, "But it is four in the morning and you are injured."

Miguel gave a strained smile. "Wouldn't want to intrude on your hospitality any longer."

"No, no. I insist. You will stay for the night, it is dangerous out there now. Also, this is the first time I've even seen Yong Soo get so attached to anyone but us and he will be heartbroken if you left without saying goodbye. I will go get you a blanket and some pillows." With that, the Chinese teen swept out of the room.

Sighing, realizing that at Yao's words Al had lain back down and was already asleep and that it was useless to protest further, he then turned to the two adults leaving. "Thank you for helping my brother." He said putting as much of his heartfelt thanks as he could. "I don't want to think about what could've happened if you hadn't. Er... How much do we owe you?" He asked as he reached for the small pouch that had the money from the fight (now their only savings) and began to open it.

"You owe us nothing." said Thai and Viet simultaneously and whirled out of the apartment before he could protest.

Well then.

* * *

"Can you explain in more detail what you said over the phone? From the beginning if you please monsieur." Francis said.

Antonio stared around the blackened remains of the townhouse with disgust. Who could have done such damage and why hadn't the city torn it down yet? It obviously should have been condemned long ago.

He wasn't sure why their new employer had insisted upon meeting in this dump, in the middle of  _nowhere (_ Seriously it was at least a ten minute drive to the nearest house!) it wasn't as though there would be any evidence or clues to be found. Not only because there was a huge fire but also because the police would've been there investigating and it had abandoned for  _two years._  Any squatters would've definitely picked it clean...

With a sigh, he ran a tense hand through his hair. He shouldn't be thinking like this, shouldn't let his exhaustion or his frustration take hold of his temper. This poor man had done nothing to deserve that. It was theirs, this investigation was getting out of hand as they had underestimated the sheer scale of the problem. The more they seemed to investigate, the more holes they seemed to find.

Which was what led had them here.

"My son... he and his wife were murdered here. From what the investigation was able to tell they were both shot before the house was set on fire, which is a bit of a relief because..." The older gentleman (who was about in his mid-fifties, though the worn lines in his faces seemed to claim otherwise), choked on his words for a moment before he was able to continue, his face twisted into a grimace. "...that way I know they didn't suffer long. It happened June 2nd, 2 years ago, their house was broken into in the late afternoon. No one heard anything, no one saw anything, not until a column of smoke came from their house and it was too late. They were gone. Not even enough remains left for a p-proper burial."

Francis, Antonio and Michelle, averted their eyes for the moment, giving Roma a moment to collect himself.

"There was only a little footage that survived in the security cameras, showing a group of men in black clothing and masks covering their faces arriving at the fence. With so little to go on, the cops shelved the case a few months after  _it_ happened."

The other three noticeably stiffened. This was what they had come for, this was why they had agreed to come immediately here despite suffering severely from jet lag (having gone from Belgorod airport in Russia to here in less than a day).

These men.

Francis and Antonio, considered the  _finest_ detectives (out of candidates both in and out of the police force) in Europe, had first stumbled upon this case when it happened to them first hand. Some men had broken into Francis's apartment and had attempted to kidnap his niece Michelle. He had managed to drive them off and upon reporting it, he had been astonished to find his problem dismissed.

So he had begun investigating on his own with Antonio and Michelle (like he would leave her alone after that). To his shock, the government was no help at all – he was denied access to supposedly public records and neither was any of his other normal sources forthcoming. If anyone knew anything, they weren't talking. So he went on the internet, searched a bit deeper and slowly more information began to trickle in.

However, it wasn't the kind of information that they could do anything with, it just left them with more questions as each case was exactly the same. All witnesses were dead, missing or weren't talking, no new evidence, no help from the police/government/media and a missing child with no promises of ransom or motive.

A family in Lithuania had their nine year old stolen from his bed six years ago. Men in black were caught on a nearby store's video camera throwing him in a car and driving away.

A twelve year old boy in Cameroon had been grabbed on his way to the market with his family five years ago. His mother claimed to have seen suspicious figures in black only minutes before he vanished.

There was another boy from Iceland, a girl from Belarus, a set of twins in Brazil, a girl from Trinidad, a boy from Turkmenistan and more from all around the world. They had just gotten back from talking to a family in Pletenivka in Ukraine that had had two of their children disappear. Still they were no closer, despite having been looking for over a year, thus Antonio's frustration.

"You see, before I continue, a number generations back, my family  _was_  the mob. Something others haven't been so quick to forget, so despite having been dissolved years ago, we've always had to be very careful. Old rival families have come after members of the Vargas's though we no longer have any living ties with them so we still have always taken...  _precautionary_ measures. My boy's included a secret tunnel where the police found the footsteps of my two darling grandsons."

Francis took a deep breath, keeping his voice calm though Antonio could see excitement flare in his associate's eyes. "They escaped?"

If they could find those two...they might hold the biggest missing piece of the puzzle – why they were targeting children and randomly at that.

"Yes. Find them...please. Find my precious grandchildren"

* * *

**Song for this Chapter: You Get What You Give by New Radicals**

* * *

**Translations**

Ajeossi – (Korean – Uncle or Big Brother)

Tatti - (Hindi - Shit)


	7. When They Come For Me

**AN- I know I've been updating a lot and I will try to keep it up but I'm sorry if I vanish again for a few weeks.**

**I own nothing but my plot. Not Hetalia or anything else referenced.**

* * *

_It is Forbidden to Forbid._

* * *

_**Six months ago.** _

_Why was it so cold?_

_Beside him Lily shivered. It had been roughly twelnty-four weeks since their parents had again taken off on them, leaving him and Lily alone in the house. They should have noticed then though that something was different about all those other times, this time, anything of value had disappeared with them._

_But they didn't notice. It was only a few days later when they realized just how much was gone and how little food was left that they realized the cold truth. They had at last been completely abandoned._

_Searching for anything that could be of use to them, all that Vash began to find was all sorts of bills with_ _**Final Notice** _ _stamped on them and cobwebs. The only things left in the house was the furniture too heavy to easily carry, some heavy canned food and their own meagre possessions._

_Yeah, turns out that the two idiots were deadbeats and owed thousands upon thousands of Euro._

_Wanting to go cool off somewhere where his sister wouldn't hear him, he tried to go outside, only to discover the doors were locked. Not locked from the inside, but like chained up kind of locked. He refused to panic but instead went and packed all of their things in two backpacks and staked out the door. When came the bankers came to foreclose the house to get back some of the money (thereby unlocking the padlock on the only door) a few days later, he grabbed Lily and their things and darted out into freedom._

_They ignored shouts of "Hey kids, wait!" (um ...no) , "Come back here!" (not freaking likely) and "They left the children there?" (you're surprised by this?) and ran up into the mountains until they could no longer see the town in which they had grown up or any people._

_It was time to try their own luck in the world. Which usually meant Las Vagas or Monaco but that seemed like a bad idea and he couldn't afford that anyway? There was also the slight problem that they weren't of age for gambling anyway._

_Feeling some sort of tug to the West and not having a better idea of where to go, they began trekking out that way._

_However, things hadn't worked out so favourably for them. Vash felt like a failure of an older brother because of the conditions he was subjecting his precious little sister too because he couldn't find a job or lodging. It was January, probably about -15C out and there was a fierce wind blowing._

_They had set down cardboard already on the ground to keep their blankets from getting damp while they were settling in under a bridge (luckily not one over water, they were much colder) which provided a little shelter from the elements. They had also built a snow wall, hiding themselves from prying eyes and also giving them another barrier against the wind. They were already wearing all the clothing they possessed (so about four layers all told) and twice that number pair of socks (can never have too many). They had some ratty mittens on they had found in a dumpster which they had then wrapped in tape to keep snow from getting in._

_He looked at Lily, she looked far older then her ten years, covered in grime and looking like she hadn't showered in weeks (which was close to the truth). As much as he didn't want to go to a drop-in centre (they could try and separate him and Lily!), perhaps it would be worth the risk, it would be warm there..._

_They would talk about it when they got back to their shelter he decided. Turning back to the task at hand, he began to once more to scour the dumpster behind the restaurant for food; it was fast food but people were more wasteful with it and hey, food is food._

_Finding a half eaten hamburger, an entire sandwich (Why was it thrown out? So wasteful) and an opened bag of chips, he threw them over to Lily before hopping out himself. They began to eat as they walked quickly back to the bridge and were looking forward to diving once more below those blankets._

_However, upon their arrival, they were in for a bit of a surprise._

" _W-Who are you?"_

* * *

As the sun began to peek through the window, Feli slowly woke up. Blinking blearily, he slowly untangled himself from the others and the blankets before shuffling first to the bathroom then over to the kettle to get the water boiling. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and feeling a bit more awake, he looked around the room and was surprised to note that he was the first one up.

That  _never_ happened!

How exciting.

The old kettle let out a whistle and a click as the water finished boiling and Feli made himself a bowl of oatmeal as first Elizabeta then Berwald got up and groggily went through their own morning routines.

It was when Roderich and Lovino woke up that Feli began to get a bit concerned and put a hand on both Gilbert's and Ludwig's foreheads. They both were warm to the touch.

Berwald gently shook Gilbert awake as Feli did the same for Ludwig.

"C'mon, up and at 'em."

What were they going to do now? It wouldn't be a good idea for the pair to go into work with minor fevers but at the same time, as unskilled labourers, they could be easily replaced and if they didn't show for a shift, it was quite possible that that would happen. Feli hated being between a rock and a hard place as no matter what they chose, neither option was good.

Both Gilbert and Ludwig seemed to realize this and as they ate their oatmeal, they proceeded to argue with the others about going in for the shift. As, sadly, the better choice was them going in as while it might make them sicker, they wouldn't be missing a pay check that they would need to pay for rent, food or medicine.

However, Berwald was supposed to work the morning shift so with a bit of pressure they were able to convince Gilbert, who had the higher fever, to switch with him and to stay home and rest while the rest of them begrudgingly allowed Ludwig to come with them. Both were made to take one Tylenol from their stash though and have an extra half serving of oatmeal each.

Once everyone had eaten, and were ready, they left their little apartment but as they went out the door, Feliciano suddenly got the sensation that something was wrong.

Shaking off the eerie feeling, he ran to catch up with the others, with them, there was no way anything too awful could happen, right?

* * *

Arthur was surprised how much could change in a few short weeks. Nineteen days ago, he had been the head of the Lost and controlled quite a bit of territory, had those he counted as family happy and safe and was doing quite well for himself.

Then eighteen days ago his two lieutenants, Bel and her brother Lars, vanished. He did his best to try to find them but it was like they had disappeared off the face of the Earth. Arthur didn't get attached easy, he cared only for Peter and after the Dutch siblings had saved their lives, he included them in that number. He only trusted three people in the world and now someone had the  _audacity_ to kidnap, (possibly harm or kill) two of them.

He hadn't felt this kind of thirst for vengeance since his father.

Arthur and Peter go way back with the siblings. Unlike some, Lars and Bel had chosen to end up on the streets; they had gotten tired of their guardian spending their food and rent money on drugs when they were already practically living on the streets, so they left . For whatever reason, the man had given up and lived life at the bottom of the barrel, dragging Bel and Lars down with him as he couldn't live with reality so instead he got high. It had gotten to the point where they would break into someone's house to raid their fridge in order to have some food in their stomachs.

In fact, that was how they found and met Arthur and Peter a year later. The siblings thought the house empty, having only ever seen their father go in and out and when the drunkard had left for work, they had snuck in through the window.

However, they hadn't found any food; instead they found eleven year old Arthur bleeding out on the carpet and glass everywhere. A few hours before he had tried to sneak into the kitchen for some food when he thought the man had passed out but instead he had been stewing about being unable to find any more alcohol in the house and when Arthur crept into the kitchen, he presented a scapegoat for his frustrations.

When a bottle whistled past his head, Arthur knew he was in trouble.

He had attempted to defend himself but an eleven year old against a full grown adult was a fight that was lost before it even began.

He came to his senses as Lars picked the glass out of his injuries and bandaged him up as Bel came back with bandages and a shaking toddler. They had left with the pair and joined them and had joined the Lost, working their way up the ranks until at fourteen and a half, Arthur had challenged the previous leader and won.

Without them, he probably would've bled out on the carpet and Peter would've been left without anyone to protect him.

He had gotten so engrossed in the search, he hadn't noticed Simon positioning himself for a coup d'etat until it was too late to stop him. Though, he wasn't entirely sure that he would've been able to stop him earlier considering the strange wealthy backers he had gotten who had supplied him with all the hired muscle he needed to intimidate, turn and/or push out any of Arthur's supporters.

It was hearing muffled gunshots in the middle of the night that had alerted him to the other's treachery as Simon and his followers stormed the safehouse. So he had woken Peter and gone out the window and onto the rooftops and was surprised when there wasn't someone there to make sure they didn't escape that way. Well, Simon  _had_ always lacked in imagination...

They had torn past the Opera house, down empty streets and across the Seine before they had heard any signs of pursuit. However, their pursuers were gaining (while he was running as fast as he could, Peter was only seven after all) and every now and again, Arthur had caught a glimpse of some jokers who looked like they were escaped extras from the  _Matrix_.

It was when they had doubled back across the Seine, that Peter's legs began to give out and Arthur had panicked as they weren't near any of the safe hiding places Arthur knew of or owned and he had no interest in finding out what would happen to his little brother if they were caught by sadistic Simon or his men. He had been about to pick him up when a nearby sewer grate moved and a boy of about sixteen poked his head out.

"Хей! Over here!" The dark haired boy shouted.

Not really having a better option, neither boy had questioned the boy's motive and they had run over and climbed in, pulling the grate back into place behind them.

Beside the dark -haired boy was another boy with platinum blonde hair held back by a cross clip holding a lantern. Nodding a greeting, he had turned and begun to walk down the long sewer tunnel while the other boy gestured for them to follow.

"My name is Georgi and this is Erik. Come this way, we'll take you to a safe place."

An hour or so later had Arthur looking around in amazement at the room around him. Who knew something like this existed down here? How could something this big exist and have no one know about it? Though he wouldn't deny, this was definitely a safe haven.

* * *

In the week that had followed Yong Soo's help, Miguel had begun to help out at Viet and Thai's restaurant, to help pay them back while Al and Matt recuperated at the apartment. Al had never taken the  _resting_ phase of healing well and his younger brother had enlisted Kiku, Mei Mei, Kaoru and Yong Soo to help keep his rambunctious sibling still. So whenever Viet or Thai sent him back with food or the like he was regaled with enthusiastic retelling of whatever board games and video games and movies had been played on the crappy old TV that day. Or had had been whined to about being bored and about Mei Mei and Kiku smacking him with a paper fan whenever he did something he  _knew_ he wasn't supposed to.

Matt on the other hand, was never really awake for long periods of time but Thai was quick to reassure them that the Canadian was sleeping the damage off.

 _It was nice to earn a living this way, peaceful even._ Miguel mused.  _Perhaps this could be their big chance to live a normal life..._

Miguel never really got to find out as that night, they heard the sounds of crashing glass, angry shouts and thudding feet.

Instantly awake, they knew the sounds were only trouble, especially when the fire alarms went off, the sprinklers went on and smoke became heavy in the air. There were then angry footsteps as people ran around on the floor above.

Yao and Yong Soo quickly dashed to the only bedroom and pulled Kiku, Mei Mei and Kaoru from it while Miguel tried to gently wake up Matthew who blearily responded, though his movements were very sluggish.

That was when he realized something was up and knew that the others had also put the pieces together. One, it was the middle of the day and pretty much everyone in the building was gone for work and the like and two, most of the footsteps led away from the door. Had the Lost tracked them down?

Finger to his lips, Yao signalled at them to hush before gesturing for them to follow out into the smoky hallway.

They were in the basement, their apartment two old storage rooms converted into an apartment so when Yao led them away from the stairs to the boiler room everyone was surprised. This would only make them more trapped, go further into danger. How would this help them get out?

But then Yao moved a few boxes and leaped over a few others and there in the corner, beside one of the boilers was a small trapdoor.

Miguel knew where it led.

Underground, into the abandoned mines and catacombs of Paris's past. A Labyrinth where one wrong turn could cause even the most experienced explorer to become hopelessly lost and starve to death, never to see the sun again.

He could see Alfred hesitating, his old fear of ghosts likely raising it's head but as the sounds of voices grew ever closer, he could see his brother swallow his fears and went down into the pit. He got Matt to sit on one of the nearby boxes before he sat on the lip so he could help his woozy brother down and made his peace about where he was about to go...

Voices cried out angrily in the hallway and he heard the door crack as an axe or something came down on it. Knowing they were out of time he tugged on Matt's ankle as all the light went out and, thankfully, his brother took the hint and more or less fell into his arms to be passed down to the other's waiting at the bottom.

He then followed pulling the trapdoor closed behind him.

* * *

Matthew's head really freaking hurt.

What had he done? Headbutted a bloody buffalo or something?

Groaning he did his best to follow where Miguel and Al were leading him but with his impaired vision and his headache, the world looked one big blur to him.

Hearing the crashes and the unmistakable sound and smell of wood burning, he thought that perhaps it was best that he couldn't really see what was happening.

Once they stopped, then as one by one the blurs disappeared into a black spot on the ground, he blinked, trying to clear his vision.

Where did they go?

Miguel got him to sit on one of the lower boxes and he took the opportunity to try and examine the black spot that was eating the blurs. It was an evil spot.

Hearing the door groan and crack as he felt a hand on his ankle tugging him down, he threw an arm out towards the door as he thought " _You can't see us, there's nothing here"_ and just like that the light went out before slumping towards the blur that was Miguel.

He then was lightly pulled him down, down into pure darkness.

* * *

Despite Feliciano's self-reassurances that everything was going to be alright, that night everything fell apart.

The men in black, who neither had seen since the burning of their house in Italy, showed up outside their building and broke in. Only Gilbert had actually listened and had been resting at the time and had managed to escape through the window and climb down the wall after grabbing their meagre savings.

The others had just finished the evening shift and had been heading home at that moment and Gil had run into them a few blocks away and had gasped out his story.

Then those men were everywhere.

They were reduced to running across the rooftops, down alleys and the river bank trying to find somewhere safe. They weren't sure why they were running besides that the men did not look friendly but mainly because something inside of them, the same sort of instinct that had led Feli and Lovi to Paris that screamed " _Don't get caught! Run. Run. Run."_

Back on the streets, they weaved in and out of drunken crowds on their way home: they were lucky that the pubs had closed right around then giving them some cover on the normally deserted street as they ran past the Saint-Jacques Métro stop.

Then a number of hands reached out from the side and pulled them through a doorway that was normally kept locked up. Ludwig could see Feliciano's eyes open in fear as they passed under the archway that read:

_Arrête!_

_C'est Ici L'Empire De La Mort_

* * *

**Translations**

_Хей_ (Bulgarian – Hey!/Oi!)

 _Arrête! C'est Ici L'Empire De La Mort_ (Fr- Stop! Here lies the territory of the dead)

**Song for this chapter –** **When They Come For Me by Linkin Park**


	8. Give A Little Bit

**AN - I apologize if anyone if OOC. I tried.**

**Keep in mind, they are in France so everyone is speaking French. That's right fellow french speakers, imagine England (willingly!) speaking French with an English accent. Amused?**

**I don't own anything.**

* * *

_One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree. "Which road do I take?" she asked. "Where do you want to go?" was his response. "I don't know," Alice answered. "Then," said the cat, "it doesn't matter."_

* * *

Feliciano was too scared to even squeak as they were led deeper and deeper into the maze of bones. Through the inky blackness broken by two small lighter flames, he could barely make out Ludwig's stiff shoulders which made him feel a little better; at least he wasn't the only one uncomfortable with the barely illuminated bones staring out at them.

Hearing the sounds of pursuers (though still far away), he urged movement into his exhausted and aching body. The two boys who had grabbed them and pulled them into the underground labyrinth also sped up after hearing the same, making the other seven nearly run to keep up.

After all, to get lost down here in the catacombs, even this area that was open to the public, typically meant a slow death, alone and in the dark and now could also mean being captured by their hunters.

Passing through a large iron wrought gate clearly there to prevent anyone from going that way – especially considering the sign and the fact they also had had to pick the lock (then lock it behind them) – they then began to make so many twists and turns it made his head spin.

They began going down, deeper and deeper as the tunnels narrowed and the ground got a little slippery with water before they stopped at a wall of bones, where the younger boy said "This is it right Georgi? We're here."

Gilbert, tired, sick, scared and clearly nearing the end of his rope, hissed "This is what? Safe? Hardly!"

"You're right Mathias." Georgi answered before he turned to Gilbert, leaned over, placed his hand over his mouth and whispered, "This is not the place for explanations. It is on the other side of the wall that we can do that.""

He then easily picked him up, hoisted Gilbert up in the air and dropped him over the holding wall.

Now, a note on the catacombs – originally when made, the bones were all just thrown in one big mess. However, later, there were those who wished to bring decorum into the realm of the dead and so arranged the bones into walls, using mainly skulls, tibias and femurs. The rest were then dropped behind these new holding walls.

This was what Gilbert now found himself sitting on and he promptly turned a lovely shade of green as he crossed himself.

Mathias then was beside him, finger on his lips reminding him to not freak out before he beckoned him to follow. Whispering apologies to the dead, he did, moving towards the limestone wall, trying to avoid disturbing the aged bones as best he could as he did so. He then pointed at a small hole in the wall, beckoned at him again before wriggling through it.

As the others arrived behind him and hearing the sounds of their pursuers getting closer, Gilbert swallowed his disgust and quickly followed behind, wriggling on his stomach through the small gap. Once everyone was through, the other boy then took a rock from the ground beside him and sealed the hole behind them.

* * *

Lighting what could only be described as a torch, they could now see their two rescuers clearly for the first time. The eldest youth was about sixteen had dark chestnut brown hair, dark eyes, a sarcastic slant to his mouth and Slavic features while the other was about ten years old, had spiky dirty blonde hair, bright blue eyes and a sunny grin.

The two of them were looking just as appraising at them.

At last Mathias nodded enthusiastically and pointed to them each in turn. "Exactly as Necolai said. An Albino, an Aristocrat, a Hyper-active one, a Grumpy one, a Stoic-Muscly one, an Aggressive Girl and a Glowering Four-Eyes."

As Georgi rolled his eyes, the rest wondered if they should be offended while one or two also secretly wondered and agreed on the accuracy of the simple descriptions.

However, before they could figure it out, the sixteen year old said. "Well, I guess introductions are in order. I'm Georgi and Mathias. Now who are you? I imagine you do not wish to be known as 'Grumpy" and whatnot for the length of our acquaintance."

Roderich spoke up (before Gilbert or Lovino said something insulting) and said primly. "I'm Roderich, this is my younger brother Ludwig and my other brother Gilbert." Then gesturing to their silent cousin, he continued "He's our cousin Berwald, the twins are Feliciano and Lovino and she's Elizabeta."

Introductions over, Ludwig then spoke up. "Erm, if you don't mind me asking, where are we? And how did this Necolai know who we are?"

Georgi replied carefully, "We are in one of the old limestone quarry tunnels. Nearly all the entrances into this one have been sealed off. As for your other question, he... saw it. Sorry, I can't say anymore, it's not for me to tell so if you'll follow us we won't be late for dinner and you can ask Necolai yourselves." The pair began to walk away, taking the torch with them.

"With all due respect." Elizabeta protested, feet planted firmly where she was, hands on her hips. "How do we know that we can trust you? For all we know you could be with them."

Mathias answered without a backward glance "Because if we were, we would have just let them catch you. Besides that, we are hiding from them for the same reason you are, to work with them would be a bad idea."

Running to catch up, Lovino asked "You know why they're after us?"

"All in good time. There's no good explaining it here, we need to go farther, deeper. Where it is safe."

Stomachs growling, they all decided to follow.

* * *

Alfred did not like this.

Not one bit.

With every echoing footstep, water drop or rustle of cloth, he jumped, waiting for a ghost to pop out and come for him.

Shivering, he tried to ignore it as best he could.

They were walking in a line, each person holding the person in front of them and behind's hand. Yao was in the front, blindingly leading them along, then came Kiku, Mei Mei, Yong Soo, Kaoru, him, Matt then Miguel. Well, it was more like Al/Matt/Miguel because Miguel and him were actually walking with one of Matt's arms over either of their shoulders while holding onto Kaoru with their spare hands. The Canadian just seemed to be in a daze, stumbling and swaying as they hurried along.

After all this, he was gonna find the fighters who had hurt him and given his twin that concussion and give them the same twice over or something.

As he jumped yet again (a low groan that turned out to have came from Matt), he reassured himself that at least they were only in one of the old quarry tunnels not the ossuary. He wasn't entirely sure he would be able to handle that.

Then a warm, slightly accented voice cut through the blackness from behind them and he had to repress a (manly) scream. "Oi mates! You're going the wrong way!  _They're_ waiting tha' way."

They all leaped around, preparing for a fight but as none of them had a light, they couldn't see a hand in front of their face, nevermind a figure a few meters away.

"Show yourself!"

To the left, a pale lighter flame flickered into existence as a cigarette was lit and for an instant a tired face with dark green eyes, large brows and mousy brown hair could be seen before the flame went out, leaving a red ember to hang in the air.

"My name is Steven" replied the same voice as before from the right, a small flashlight flickering into existence as he did so "the bloke with the cigarette is Arthur. We're here to guide you to a safe house. "

"How can we trust you? You show up out of nowhere and demand we come with you, didn't your Ma teach you not to go places with strangers?" Alfred replied, sarcasm in full force due his discomfort at the location and the situation.

The cigarette ember flared as Arthur took a drag then flicked on his own flashlight, "Very well, my name is Arthur, I'm sixteen and from England. After my alcoholic father nearly beat me to death, I took my brother and we escaped and started a gang. Steven here is twelve and from Australia, he was sent here by his parents to attend a boarding school that didn't exist. Now that we're not strangers, can we go?"

Still wary, they all shook their heads.

With a sigh, Steven came forward into the light, he was a boy of about twelve or so with auburn brown hair that had two strands sticking wildly up and a bandaid on his nose. "I know you feel that you can't really trust us, and I don't blame you as we have no way of vouching for ourselves but we're in a rush. We don't want to be discovered any more then you do; they hunt us for the same reason." He trailed off, looking uncertain before jerking a little and swinging to look over at Kiku while Yao snarled and hid him behind his back.

The two stared at each other for a moment before the Japanese boy nodded to everyone else's surprise. "He is not lying. I will go with him." Immediately the Asian family broke into a heated discussion while Alfred turned to his own family to ask their opinion. Before any such words could get out of his mouth, he yelped in shock as he could only see his half-brother, the two small lights instantly flickered to them.

Yep, he could  _not_ see his twin.

Miguel staggered as if under a heavy burden when he stepped away and whirled around frantically, looking for their brother. "Matthew? Where did you go? Answer me Matt? Maaaaatt!"

"Alfred! What the hell? He's too heavy for me to hold on my... own. WHERE'D MATT GO?" Miguel shouted, surprised.

Stamping out his cigarette, Arthur wandered over, hands outstretched and grasped the air by Miguel.

"Now... Matt was it? Matthew, lad, I need to you take a deep breath and focus, focus on me, focus on your brothers. Come on now..." He coaxed in a gentle voice unlike the more annoyed one he had before.

Suddenly Matthew was there again, leaning heavily on his brother, eyes half lidded and dazed as Arthur let go of his shoulder and arm with a satisfied smirk. "Good. Keep that up lad, we don't want to lose you in the dark."

Hearing that, Alfred paled and picked Matthew up bridal style, not wanting to take any chances, while Miguel stammered out "W-What just happened?"

"We'll explain later, it is too open out here. We need to move before they figure out where it is you've escaped to."

Sharing brief glaces, they decided to follow as they had no other idea of what else to do and the pair appeared to have a better idea of what was going on then they did.

"Good" Arthur said and turned and walked ahead of them all, allowing them to see him clearly for the first time, causing both Miguel and Alfred to stop for a moment in shock.

"...Wait, wasn't that Arthur the former head of the Lost?" Miguel exclaimed surprised.

"It would appear so." Alfred replied, equally stunned. "How much crazier is tonight going to get?"

They quickly walked back a bit before going down a barely visible crawlspace and then down another narrow passage which opened up into a wider tunnel. They headed off through another passage, bent double in some areas for the low ceiling and water sloshed around on the ground. Ancient fossils peeked out of the stone and Yong Soo stubbed his toe on a rusty old horseshoe embedded in the muck, a leftover from the creature that had toiled in the dark here centuries prior.

They weaved through many much tunnels, some opening into open space while others continued after a small crawl space or a brief climb and yet more divided into three or more passages.

The farther they went, the more water on the ground, they had gone from just the limestone "sweat" to an actual source of water.

Steven smiled knowingly at their wonder, pointing upwards and whispering "We're under the Médicis Aquaduct, there's just a bit of a leak."

Eventually they stopped in front of a black hole, there were many pits and wells left over from the quarries, this appeared to be one such example, filled with water. The lights didn't even penetrate far in, scattering into glowing emeralds as the eleven of them stared into it.

Then Arthur tucked first his flashlight into a Ziplock then pulled... _a gun_ out of his pocket and put in there as well before pocketing it and gently taking Matt from Al, covering his mouth and nose after which he took a step forward and plunged straight down into it.

Steven then just looked at the two families. "It goes down about two meters then you need to swim towards the light there. On the other side, there's a secret room, our safe house."

Alfred, as no one else was going and heroes are not afraid of anything, gulped and took a step forward. Besides, Arthur had taken Matt, he was honour bound to follow.

Taking a deep breath, he jumped and tried not to gasp as icy waters closed over his head.

* * *

Ludwig emerged from the tunnel, dripping wet, exhausted and more then a little annoyed. Could he sleep yet? He had worked the eight hour midnight shift, he felt awful, his body aching from being sick and from work and had spent the rest of the night running through this maze! He wanted to lie down dammit!

He had also been the last one to go through and much to his disappointment, no one on this side had a light on and it was once again pitch black. Miles and miles of inky blackness stretched before him as he clambered out of the water.

In summary, he was cold, tired and lost.

"Gil?" He called out, trying to find the others. "Liz?" He groped around in the dark. "Feli? Roderich? Berwald?" When no one still answered he at last tried. "Lovino?"

A hand shot out and grabbed his wrist as he jumped a meter in the air. "This way potato bastard. How did you get lost? Georgi said just to follow the wall to the next room! Moron!"

Annoyed at being called stupid, yet grateful that the cranky Italian had bothered to help him, Ludwig remained silent.

They both kept a hand on the wall to their right and Ludwig put a hand on Lovino's shoulder to keep from getting lost in the dark again.

They wandered around the round room then down the lone corridor, which after taking a turn, they could see light at the end of. So, taking their hands away from the wall, they hurried down into what became a moderate sized cavern.

That was not what astonished the two but rather what was in the room and its occupants. There were colourful bits of cloth and paper peppered all over the walls and ceiling with strings of beads dangling from them. Alcoves carefully carved into the wall housed many candles, giving the room a soft glow and a clean smell. Old couches, beanbags, cushions, mattresses and carpet scraps littered to the floor while hammocks hung anywhere there were supports for them.

With regards to the people, it was strange, the room was populated only by a handful of kids with everyone appeared to be within the ages six and eighteen. He heard snippets of other languages and heavily accented French coming from all around and there were so many wonderfully different and colourful decorations and clothes, his exhausted mind spun.

Grabbing a towel from the table by the door he hastily dried himself off before, exhaustion overwhelming him, he flopped down into a pile of cushions and blankets by the entrance and closed his eyes. However, as a voice piped up beside him, he jumped about a foot and a half in the air, adrenaline giving him a second (read: fourth) wind.

"Hello, I'm Tino of Finland, who are you?" There was a young teen boy of about fifteen or sixteen beside him, with platinum blonde hair, blue eyes and a friendly grin offering a gloved hand to shake.

Taking a breath to calm his racing heart, Ludwig gingerly took the offered hand as he answered. "I'm Ludwig...of Germany. What is this place?"

The boy slowly blinked and sat up a little to answer, pride filling his words. "It's Bohemia. A place where all of us who've been abandoned, abused and used, those of us unwanted by society can always find a safe place. No one judges here, we've all come from rough backgrounds and have done things we would rather forget, we understand. That is something we could never get up there. We have chosen to start afresh, to become our own family, discarding our last names, throwing away our connection to them as they threw away us. This place has become our identity, our life and our world...If that makes sense at all."

"...I guess" Ludwig answered though he was a little unnerved about how cult-like it sounded. "Um..Who could I talk to to find out what's going on? How did you guys know we needed help?"

"Well you could ask pretty much anyone though it's best you ask Nicolai. He's the one that brought us all together and is the only one who could really answer your second question. He's not here just yet though..." Tino scanned the room before settling on the far wall where the old mattress section of the floor was. Over there, there was a tan, bruised blond with a bloodied Captain America t-shirt and beside him, a darker skinned boy with dreads. They were leaned up against the wall, nervously watching (and trying not to hover by the looks of it) a pale boy of fourteen or so with a blue navy hat and silver cross in his hair lean over a prone body that looked kinda like the Captain America boy. He could tell that all but the boy with the cross had recently come through as they were still wet and had towels around their necks.

"The one with the cross hair-clip is Erik of Norway, my brother, those other three are new here so I don't know who they are." Tino said, smiling fondly at the platinum blonde before his cheerful features were corrupted by a frown as he looked at the trio. "Though the ones who appear to be twins are in rough shape, I hope Erik doesn't push himself too hard helping."

"Shouldn't he be in a hospital?"

"No. No hospital could ever hope to be as good as Erik with medical treatment. If he can't do anything, no one can. It's not like we can trust the doctors anyway."

"...Alright then." Ludwig frowned at the odd response but figured he'd get his answers when the mysterious Nicolai arrived.

Looking around the room, he spotted Mathias enthusiastically talking to a young boy of seven or eight with a sailor's cap as they doodled on paper near the centre of the room. To the left side of the cavern he could see Georgi dozing in one hammocks and the rest of his family at the relatively large coffee table laden with food.

"Seeing as you arrived with them, I imagine you know Mathias of Denmark and Georgi of Bulgaria already, the other boy is Peter of England, Arthur's brother. Arthur (also of England) is... ah. There he is over on that couch glowering, he looks intimidating but he's a nice enough, er, kaveri? I don't recall how to say... erm. Fellow? Yes, he's a nice enough fellow as long as he doesn't see you as a threat to Peter."

Looking over to the food table, he saw Gilbert looking concerned at him and he gave a tired wave and grin to reassure him.

"Ah, family?"

"Yeah, he's my older brother Gilbert...of Germany, he's also a bit overprotective. He can't relax until he's satisfied his mother hen instinct and made sure all his chicks are happy, safe and sound."

Berwald came over and, to his surprise, his cousin plopped down beside Tino which was odd as the Swede NEVER initiated first contact with anyone. "This is my cousin Berwald of Sweden," He introduced before hastening to explain, "he doesn't talk but he's very friendly and he has a note pad that he writes on..." He then trailed off awkwardly, not sure what else to say.

Berwald, looked over at him knowingly (it wasn't his fault that words just didn't come to him!) and leaned around to clasp a hand on his shoulder reassuringly and a faint smile appeared, causing Ludwig to give an internal sigh of relief. He hadn't rambled too much and made a fool of them both. Good. "Talking to the boy with the bandaid on his nose are Elizabeta of Hungary, a friend, and Roderich of Austria, my younger brother."

"That's Steven of Australia, he and Jackson of New Zealand – the kid dozing in the alcove over there – family was a bit of a sore spot for them both and they have adopted one another as siblings; after renouncing their own families."

He then felt his stomach drop a bit when he saw that Gilbert, reassured, was presently in a very animated discussion with an Asian boy with a strange curl and a pair of mud splattered pyjamas with the South Korean flag on them. That gleam in his brother's eyes was never good and just about screamed trouble and the other boy looked equally mischivious. He was sure there would be some unintentional chaos and destruction within an hour or so.

The twelve year old Asian boy with a bowl cut and a blue housecoat type thing that he had seen Feli talking to when he and Romano entered the cavern for the first time, was now curled up asleep on a cushion with two others of around ten or so. To his left was an Asian girl in pink pyjamas and a strange curl hanging in front of her face and to his right was an Asian boy with red pyjamas and thick eyebrows. Another Asian boy with a ponytail wearing traditional Chinese wear – he guessed that the older teen had been awake when they ran as he was the only one not in pyjamas – was hovering over them protectively.

"Not sure who they are either, they arrived about a half hour before you did along with the three being treated by Erik."

Ludwig gave non-committal grunt and nod, not wanting to seem rude as if he weren't paying attention but exhaustion was sneaking up on him once more and was beginning to have trouble focusing on what the other was saying.

Tino, however, seemed to immediately notice what he was doing and with a smile and a friendly clasp on his arm, he turned to chat to Berwald.

Silently grateful, he snuggled deeper into the cushions and blankets and closed his eyes, he could use a nap.

* * *

He woke up after about an hour, feeling a bit better and finding himself once more buried under his strange family. As he was suddenly hungry, with a sigh he extracted himself and went to go get some food. It was when he was munching on some baked potatoes that all the conversations in the room came to a sudden halt as a boy, maybe fifteen or sixteen with platinum blonde hair and red eyes came in.

Mathias who was snacking on some fruit beside him leaned over and whispered "That's Necolai."

Immediately, despite being at risk of slipping into a food coma, he straightened to watch and listen to the boy who had somehow known who they were and that they would be needing help.

"Welcome Newcomers to Bohemia." The boy said in thick French (his accent sounding similar to Elizabeta's) as he sat down on one of the hammocks. "Now I'm sure you are wondering what is going on. I wish I had more answers to give you then I do, but sadly we know little more then you. We are still searching for answers of our own, but that explanation will have to wait for fifty-seven minutes as everyone should be awake for this..."

The Asian with the pony tail looked shocked. "In an hour? No way Matthew will be awake by then! Shūshu Thai has been giving him enough medication to knock him out for hours so his body can heal and rest. It is already a miracle he woke once and remained awake as long as he did!"

Necolai just shook his head. "That would be true for most, however, none of here can be termed as 'normal'. However, we will still wait, for now, take a nap, have a bite, we have all the time in the world."

Quiet had once again settled in the cavern when Necolai finished speaking, the new arrivals being too exhausted from their night-time adventure to protest much. Many drifted over to the pile of cushions that Ludwig was on and introduced themselves before going to sleep.

Then, just as Necolai said, after fifty-seven minutes since he had first spoken, Matthew woke up and Necolai announced he and the others would explain what little they knew.

And it would seem Ludwig's strange night was still not over...

* * *

**Song for this chapter Give a Little Bit by Roger Hodgson**

**So for past readers as you can see there is a somewhat reduced cast here, don't worry those that were cut out are still in the story but have been relegated to a more minor or background role to keep characters down. Hopefully this is easier to read However, I swear after this, things are going to start heating up.**

* * *

**Translations**

_kaveri_  (Fin – bloke, fellow, kid)

 _Shūshu_ (Ch- Uncle. Used as a form of respect, not necessarily relations)

 


	9. Numb

**AN-** **I don't own Hetalia.**

* * *

_If pro is opposite of con, then what is the opposite of progress_?

* * *

_This should never have happened._

_Tino and Erik had become...aware of some personal changes that they sure as hell didn't tell you about in health class. Unlike growing a few feet, having outbreaks of acne, weird dreams or realizing that they found someone else attractive, they were brought about by a severe bought of the flu that left them weak and drained and no longer who they had been._

_They were now monsters, abominations of nature._

_For all that they didn't look any different, they felt the changes sure enough and now lived in fear of their discovery. Both had been so careful, to not get caught and to not expose their secret for two years._

_But then, on a hot day Erik was shirtless and putting something in the attic and had leaned back too far on the ladder and had fallen. Tino had instinctively caught him, his bare hands pushing him back to safety. And just like that, they had been ousted, their mother staring at them._

_Then a lamp went flying at his head, followed by a picture ripped off the wall."Get out you freaks! Devils! Demons!"_

_Erik, getting over his shock faster, had then pulled Tino into their room, slamming the door shut. As he did so, he saw the portrait on the ground. It was their last family portrait from when their Dad was alive, when things were still okay ...and now they would really never be so again he knew._

_He heard his mother's fists hit the door. "What have you done with my children! Where are they!"_

_Both of them snapped out of their stupor and wordlessly began to pack their bags, Tino pulling on his gloves (that he should have been wearing, why had he forgotten? Why had he been so stupid?) and Erik gently pulling the picture out of the shattered glass and putting it in his pocket._

_Then with a steeling look at each other, they grabbed each others hand before opening the door and tearing down the stairs and running for the door, dodging whatever was thrown their way._

" _Give me back my Tino and Erik!" They heard her shriek behind them before running down the stairs after them._

_This was what they had feared all along._

" _GET OUT AND GIVE THEM BACK!"_

_Not knowing what else to do, the two took off, their mother's shouts echoing in their ears as they did so. Both pretended not to see the others tears or notice that their hearts were breaking just a little more with each step._

* * *

Everyone now awake, the newcomers congregated at the pillow pile near the hammocks where those who already shared Bohmeia's secrets began to take up residence.

Hopping down from the hammock he had been napping in, Necolai began. "This is a slightly different talk then one I'm used to giving so please bear with me. After all, most of you have yet to... awaken." He paused and then slumped with a sigh. "And I'm sure that made little sense and did absolutely nothing in the way of convincing you I'm not crazy or seeking attention... Where to begin, where to begin... Hmm. I would like to ask you a question first. Have any of you, ever had something strange happen, maybe when you were frightened, nervous or upset?"

Matthew and Kiku slowly raised their hands while the rest of them looked confused. Ludwig mentally groaned, he didn't want theatrics; he wanted answers and then a bed where he could sleep this cold/flu off!

"Oh," Necolai said, sounding somewhat disappointed. "Oh dear. I thought more of you...That makes things a little bit harder still to explain. Usually by the time they end up down here, they are usually aware of some things... I'm sorry; I'm not quite sure where to start." The teen looked flummoxed, completely out of his depth.

"How about the beginning?" commented Arthur dryly from where he was perched in the hammock. "That way you're less likely to leave anything out, yeah?"

Nicolai took a steadying breath before giving a wry grin to the other boy. "Thank you Arthur, we've only known each other two weeks and already you have proven to be  _very_ helpful. Your best idea yet even! In fact, why don't  _you_ just explain all of this?"

"I try my best" Arthur replied, a shark's grin spreading across his features, "and no, I don't think I will. It's a little amusing to see you flounder when you're usually a step or two ahead of the rest of us."

"Please get on with it! If we're confused or whatever it is you're worried about, we'll ask questions. Just... _please._ " Ludwig groaned as he rubbed his temples, exhausted and sick with a wicked headache growing.

"Alright then," Nicolai acknowledged "first off, I must ask that you do not interrupt once I begin. I'm worried as it is a little hard to believe, especially when most of you have yet to experience anything and I can't see how this meeting goes. Secondly, please understand that all of the information we've gathered is as certain as we were able to get and that I'm telling you all we know. Any gaps we have are because we haven't been able to find out."

He looked around the room and as they nodded, he continued. "So, right. The beginning...I suppose it would be best to start with  _them,_ they are after all the cause for everything. There were a group of scientists involved in an internationally-run, highly experimental, genetics program that developed a drug that was supposed to reduce the chances of miscarriage, infant mortality and genetic mutations with pregnant women and the fetus. Or at least this is what they told the governments funding them, whether or not this was actually the case we don't know. Anyway, it passed all previous tests and they got approval to start testing on humans. It was administered on a weekly basis to ten volunteers from around the world. After its twelfth year, the project was scrapped when there was no significant drop in mortality, miscarriage or genetic mutations rates. However, it turns out that the chemicals continued to have effects after the nine month period, even years after the drug was initially introduced. The mothers showed no symptoms but the babies... at some point or another they began getting reports of the children falling horribly ill. If they survived, they were not the same and had developed some, umm mutation? Ability, developed an ability I suppose being another way to describe it. All of us in this room were once part of this project and who knows how many others, this is why the world's governments are sending people after us, because they wish to hide their own failures and also see if they can replicate the results..."

There was a moment of silence before the oldest Asian teen with a pony tail, Yao if Ludwig remembered right, shakily said, "I call bullshit" as the others around him nodded.

Necolai shook his head vehemently. "No, it's true! Er, we can prove it! Jackson? Would you mind?"

The younger boy with chestnut brown hair and thick eyebrows gave an enormous grin and nodded, hopping down from his hammock and... there was no real way to describe it. Ludwig felt his eyes grow round and widen in shock as the boy's form seemed to to to  _melt_ as he fell to the ground. When he landed in a crouch, he now looked identical to the Asian teen (minus the clothes which remained no-longer-loose, raggedy All Blacks t-shirt and sweat pants) who was stammering in surprise as the others stared at him, jaws dropped and speechless.

Jackson gave a laugh, seemingly delighted that he had managed to surprise them all as his body went all liquid-y and the eleven year old was in front of them again, wide grin with missing tooth beaming at them. "Pretty cool, huh? I can be  _anybody_ though being bigger and older makes me hungry and...are those potato chips? MINE!"

Not seeming to require any prompting, the others then began to set about doing impossible things. Steven growled as he rolled up from where he was dozing in the cushions, black stripes appearing faintly on his skin, teeth and nails sharpened and had an aura about him that screamed 'predator'. Then he seemed to fold into himself and a scaly pattern appeared instead as his tongue flickered out and he blinked translucent eyelids to reveal elliptical pupils. He then went to go thieve some chips from Jackson who grumbled but surrendered the bag.

Georgi stretched and got down from his hammock, the ground rising up to meet him as he did so, Mathias clambering down after him. Once on the ground, the spiky haired boy frowned in concentration before the earth began to crack and splinter around him.

"If you get any heavier Mathias, you could send us all into one of the lower tunnels." Georgi chided poking him as he did so.

"Yeah." Arthur said as he and Peter floated down from their perch before  _throwing_  his brother at the Dane causing the cracks to stop growing and both boys to go sprawling.

"Art-hur" Peter cried, rubbing his head. "That hurt you meanie!" The then jumped to his feet and pointed dramatically "Just you wait until I figure out how to make our gifts stronger rather then weaker! Me and Mathias will get you!"

Arthur just laughed as he walked forward and poked him in the forehead. "I'd like to see you try brat!"

"Jerk!" Peter grumbled, ducking his head to hide a small grin and punching the other boy's shin. "Just you wait."

Georgi laughed as the two brothers began to wrestle as he moved his hand a bit and the ground 'healed', smooth rock once more.

Necolai rolled his eyes before he turned to Tino, "Tino, if you would, could you please place your bare hand on my arm for a few seconds?""

The other boy flinched and looked at him open-mouthed in shock. "A-are you sure? You know what this will do to you - that it will hurt."

"It's quite alright Tino, I trust you and besides, Erik is here."

The youth pulled off his right nylon glove with his teeth. "Are you sure?" He asked, hand hovering over the exposed skin.

Necolai flashed a sure smile. "Positive."

With a defeated sigh, Tino placed his hand on Necolai's arm and the reaction was instantaneous. In the two seconds that they were in contact a hissing sound could be heard and as Tino withdrew his hand there was a dark burn in the shape of it. Necolai through gritted teeth then said, "Now Erik if you please."

The stoic boy nodded and brought his own hand up which then began to glow and soon it was as if the injury had never been there.

"You see..." Necolai began again. "Each of us that has ended here has a 'gift', Erik's restores any health lost and Tino's disintegrates anything organic that his skin comes in contact with. Georgi can control the Earth, Mathias can control his weight or something else's to be as heavy or light as he wishes, Steven can 'borrow' the instincts and some features of various animals and Jackson can change his form. There are a few more subtle gifts like Peter here can make anyone's gift stronger or cancel it out while Arthur's a telekinetic. You were wondering how I knew that you needed help; it is because I can see glimpses of the future, though only when I'm asleep. It is not always the most clear or precise as it can change with a single decision but I felt that this dream was certain, or at least as close to as I can get. That is why we were waiting for you tonight, we knew that they were coming for you sometime in the evening; that they're after what you can do, just like they're after us. They're after you because you are now showing up on their radar as your gifts are also awakening as Matt showed earlier today."

"There is no way this is real." Yao said, shakily in denial as he stood up before a hand on his arm stopped him. Kiku then said. "That is untrue brother...For the past six weeks I have been able to hear the thoughts of others but I was too afraid to tell you. Right now you're thinking about Auntie Viet and her knowledge on hallucinogenic incense, hot buns and whether or not you returned that library book yesterday."

Yao, rendered speechless for a moment stuttered out, "I-is that why you've been refusing to leave the house? That was why you vouched for them earlier in the tunnels?"

"Yes. I'm sorry to disappoint you for having not told you but please don't be mad at me."

Before Yao could answer, Berwald then stood up. Ludwig looked to his cousin, surprised as Gilbert exclaimed. "You too Berwald?"

The stoic boy nodded before he rubbed his hands together and drew them apart somewhat allowing all nearby to see the ball of static electricity floating there.

Matthew, still not looking that great, with each new demonstration had him become more and more pale. Alfred grabbed his hand, concerned. "Mattie? Are you alright?"

Then Matthew vanished again.

"Oh my God I'm invisible!" His panicked voice sounded from the air, then  _all_ the light in the cave went out.

* * *

Týr groaned and shivered as he continued to trudge up the mountain side while the wind and snow howled and swirled around him.

Cold didn't bother him, not anymore. It couldn't, it was after all a part of him now, just like an arm or his liver but it didn't stop the memories.

He hated the cold where once he had loved it, had loved the ice and snow and wind. But  _they_ had taken that from him. They had locked him in freezers, they had tossed him in frozen lakes and shocked him when he tried to climb out, they would lock him in a dark room and lower the temperature until ice formed on his skin and it hurt hurt hurt.  _They_ would find any weakness and exploit it. To them, he was not human, nor were any of the others trapped with him. They were not anything but dogs, dogs to train to kill and to mindlessly obey any order.

He crossed the crest of the mountain with no small relief and began to descend into France, hoping that he would be able to find some of the others. Find them and warn them, help them. He had seen the map in one of the rooms when he escaped, he knew they were closing in.

He could do it, he could warn them.

He just needed to figure out  _how_ considering he never learned to write and could barely read. Which wouldn't be so troublesome if  _they_ hadn't cut off his tongue.

* * *

Francis could hardly believe it as his feet crunched the gravel of his native soil as they left the airport. Their search, the few little clues they had managed to gather had led them here, here to his home town of Paris.

He could almost sense it, the aura of the ones who were leading them on this chase contaminating the purity of his old home, the air itself seeming tainted with malice, secrets and hidden danger. The sooner they caught these kidnappers the better; he decided, the poison was beginning to spread too far.

Just recently he had been watching the news and there had been another disappearance, this one in Mexico. The sheer similarities between the cases, the invisible perpetrators and the police's general helplessness had caught the international media's attention. Already walking around the streets, he could see no child without the watchful eye of their parents, their eyes turning upon them as strangers with unease and hostility. Doors were shut early and despite the time of year, windows were firmly closed and locked.

It was when they were outside of  _La Notre Dame_ that he saw something now out of the ordinary. Three boys, likely homeless by their attire, who looked like they had been to hell and back were wearily perched on the edge of the bridge spanning the Seine. They looked to be about the same age and were likely from the Mediterranean area judging by their skin colour. One wore a mask on his face, the second had a desert hat on and the third looked sleepy and had a white beret with a cat pin on. This could work for him. They would need guides for the Parisian underground, his own connections not being enough and children heard everything, people frequently not noticing or discounting their presence. These three could do quite nicely, helping the Trio find the blight that was contaminating his city.

Also, then he could use his employment of them as an excuse to feed the youngsters, his instincts pressed into him by his Mère shouting for him to cook for them without them treating it as charity. He may not be able to help every hungry child in the world but he would always try to help those that appeared in front of him. So, whispering his plan to Antonio, he began to approach them to see if what they knew of the city.

Then he saw the boy with the desert hat sway a little and so he picked up his pace just as the child went limp and pitched forward towards the river. He saw the eyes of the other two widen as their hands reached for him but they missed, their mouths open as they cried out wordlessly. He unconsciously began to run and dove over the rail, reaching for the child. The boy hit the water first and began to sink instantly causing Francis a few moments of panic as he searched the dark water before he brought him up, pulling him over to the side where a worried Michelle and Antonio were already waiting.

As Francis hefted the boy from the water, it quickly became apparent to him that even dripping wet the boy was far too light...It was no longer a question of whether the three would be staying with them or if they would be helping them but it was rather a matter of whether or not Francis's old home's guest rooms were clean enough to have the youths sleep in and how late the markets would be open to get some food. They would not be given the choice of leaving until Francis ensured that they were properly fed and had some weight on them.

Besides, as he looked down at the two smaller bodies hugging him as they profusely thanked him for the third child's rescue, he felt a surge of hope. His instincts said that these three would be able to help.

Maybe they could get to the bottom of this.

* * *

He was not happy.

The experiment that had escaped months ago had yet to be recaptured and his men had also failed to find the new signals that were appearing.

Needless to say, those in charge of those operations were no longer able to issue any orders ever again.

He wanted results and he wanted them soon. He had a buyers conference in a few months time and he needed to have both information on recreating the mutations and obedient super-soldiers to sell. Neither of which were present due to the incompetency of his staff.

He made a mental note to have the rest of his...'employees' terminated in the same way their leaders had just been after they found his precious experiments. This delay in time was inexcusable.

* * *

**And now onwards to our actual plot! I hope this meets your expectations :)**

**Song for this chapter: Numb by Linkin Park**

**Just in case it wasn't clear – Tino's power dissolves anything organic so when he caught Erik, the seconds that his hands were in contact with his brother's back, he dissolved the back of his shirt and some of his skin, which Erik's ability healed and their mother saw. I hope that makes sense.**

* * *


	10. Broken Wings

**AN- Again, all the lines in the beginning are from France in the 60's-70's and reflect the political and social climate thereof. Bringing it back up as a number that I have and haven't yet used are rather anti-authoritarian/anti-establishment/socialist/communist and wanted to restate that they are not views I personally hold.**

**I do not own Hetalia or anything else mentioned in this.**

* * *

_They are buying your happiness. Steal it back._

* * *

_Heracles felt bad when he heard an older voice curse a blue streak at him._

_Well, not so much at him per say, but the one who took his money. So rather, him, Sadiq and Gupta._

_Which didn't make him feel any better really._

_It had been a lucky find for them, they had run inside the abandoned church to get out of the rain and had stumbled across the hidden envelope. Upon finding the envelope, it felt that fate at last was shining on them. Originally, they were planning on taking some of the 100 Euro to buy some food, new (used) clothes and blankets and leave the rest – after all they weren't cruel enough to take someone's savings, just desperate. However, they had heard someone coming and in their panic to hide, Heracles accidentally took the entire envelope with him._

_At the tender age of ten, they had been kicked to the curb by their mothers. He could remember that day clearly, sitting there trying to flick rocks as far as they could into the Baie de l'Espalmador, small bags beside them and mournfully watching passerbys and cars._

_Worst of all was that it had been their birthday that day too._

_They knew the reason well enough though three years later, it still stung to think about. Their moms were, to put it very bluntly, prostitutes and they had gotten pregnant. The john they worked for would allow and help raise children there until ten when they would be kicked out. After all, having kids in such a place was bad for business._

_They had wandered for a while, before, being unable to truly provide for themselves had turned to a darker life, pickpocketing and even robbing houses for what they needed. However, what had become a tool for survival to them had attracted the attention of local gangs in Nice and soon they were taking much more then that._

_Realizing just what a dangerous line they were treading, they made plans to get out and had done their best to do a disappearing act before moving north-west to Paris. So far, they hadn't been tracked down again, but it felt like it was really only a matter of time._

_Which was partly why they needed the money so badly. They could not resort to their old methods of getting necessities and begging wasn't very profitable, especially as a teen._

_Apologizing quietly again when he heard the blonde choke down a sob and stomp out of the room, him and the other three emerged from their hiding place._

* * *

Francis was pleased but at the same time so,  _so_ very frustrated.

He stifled a surge of anger as he recalled how after the boy with the keffiyeh woke up, the trio had offered him what was clearly all of their money in payment for the food and shelter and had tried to leave. What nonsense!

While they had been wary of him at first, they had settled in easily enough and lately they had been warming up to him, Antonio and Michelle and, more importantly, they had finally gained some weight. Meaning that they no longer looked like poor starving waifs – which to be fair, they had been – and like a strong gust of wind could blow them over.

Overall though he was happy with his new charges; he was upset only when evidence of how they lived showed. The trio wouldn't leave the house unless necessary, would stay in the shadows or the side as often as they could becoming part of the background, they ate hunched over their food and would stare distrustfully at anyone who got close, flinched at casual touches and, worst of all, they ducked under the nearest surface when they heard any loud noises. He was sure he didn't want to know how they had such habits, but had enough experience from past investigations and seminars that he had more then an idea of why. He always felt protective rage rush through him at those moments and could see Antonio also struggling with just swooping the trio up in a protective hug, to shelter them from the world. Each time they trusted them, let them coax them from their hiding place, allowed them to ruffle their hair, believed their promises; he struggled between pride and wanting to hunt down whoever had tormented them, for making them so cautious that these small things felt like major accomplishments; he just made himself take his victories where he could.

Especially now as the boys trusted him enough to actually  _talk_ to him; they had learned their names after a month and it had taken about three months for them to truly begin to open up.

While what had been gleaned so far wasn't the best information, it was more then they had and most of it was even completely new to them. First, the men in black were only targeting those eighteen and younger. Secondly they had specific targets in mind, having lifted one kid out of an entire orphanage and vanishing two children on a school trip. Thirdly, extrapolated from this and past evidence, the children being snatched were not out of the desire for ransom or kidnapping to hurt the family. Fourthly, they typically only struck when the sun was done.

But the most striking points were revealed after those long weeks to Michelle, surprisingly enough, when Sadiq told her about parts of a conversation that he had once overheard from his hiding place.

These being, One: many world governments were very interested in whatever the hell they were doing and  _supported_ it and Two: the children being kidnapped were all the offspring of parents who had participated in some program

This was a very big step, a breakthrough even, as at last they were making some progress.

However, he was frustrated as these men had yet to show up again anywhere and they were making little progress in finding those missing. It was as if they had never existed in the first place by official records and outside of there, it was as though they had vanished into thin air.

There were so few loose ends and clues it made Francis want to pull his hair out. Whoever was behind this was being thorough and in his experience, when criminals were being this thorough whatever it was they were up to was very dangerous and very big with lots of support.

The more he investigated this, the less he liked it, souring his mood. Something was rotten in the state of Denmark* and it wasn't his attitude. He was missing something, some clue and he was sure it was right in front of him.

However, after an hour or so of brooding, he decided to go for a bit of a walk. Antonio was here to watch Michelle and he would just go to the late night coffee shop that was a few blocks away. Nodding decisively (yes, that was probably the best course of action), he briefly checked on the sleeping children before telling Antonio where he was going.

Then he stepped out into the blustery cold night, leaving lone footprints in the newly fallen snow.

* * *

It had been an interesting few months, Lovino thought, looking back. In fact, he could hardly believe it was December already and the changes that had come with it when it seemed like just yesterday he and Feli were doing all they could to just survive.

It had been a busy time, many of them coming into powers that were their birthright while they adjusted to living together.

For example, after the first night, they got used to keeping at least one candle burning (in a lantern of course) because Peter was scared of the dark and would scream and cry until there was light again. They learned never to buy sage scented candles as they made Alfred sneeze and sneeze and gave Steven migraines. They got used to Mei Mei and Elizabeta laying down the law as while they weren't self conscious and didn't really care, they got quickly fed up with the younger boys running around in boxers. It had also been them that got a kitchen rotation going so that everyone took turns cooking and cleaning after Mathias implied that they should cook. They also learned shortly thereafter that Arthur shouldn't be trusted with any sort of cooking task as somehow things always managed to catch fire.

Tino and Roderich were both strict on enforcing a 'bath once a day' rule, much to most of their dismay. It wasn't that they hated being clean, it's just their options were to get clean in the pool of water with the tunnel that connected to Bohemia or a shallower one in one of the small caves that branched off and the thing both had in common was that the water was absolutely freezing cold. So while the water was clean enough for them to wash in, the routine was to essentially dip the soap in the water, wash yourself then jump in, climb out as quickly as you could and run back to the warmth of Bohemia.

It was also learned that you should never, under any circumstances, wake Erik or Lovino up before 8am as they would be...grumpy to say the least. While most of the others did not mind being woken up (especially if they were being woken because they were having a nightmare), there was now a designated 'poking' stick so as to do so – gently! – without getting punched as they instinctively lashed out. It was soon known that Roderich or Matthew were the two to go to if you wanted a story while if you wanted to play cards, Miguel, Kiku or Tino was the person to ask. If you were hungry, it quickly became common knowledge that the best person to ask was Feli who, after having had to repeatedly make do with very little, knew how to make a quick and delicious meal out of practically nothing. After the initial few weeks, the kids quickly warmed up to Berwald and soon would be bugging him to play charades with either Ludwig or Tino nearby to help interpret his hand signs.

Arthur learned to smoke out in the corridor, occasionally joined by Gilbert or Miguel because otherwise Yao would tear him a new one over the hazards of smoking and of second hand smoke and was not afraid to kick his ass if he didn't listen. The younger ones quickly got into the habit of not to bring up comic books near Alfred as he would get miserable over not having been able to afford them over the years and being behind. After the first memorable time, no one brought up DC vs Marvel or any other company as surprisingly the more subdued personalities – Mei Mei, Matthew and Kaoru – were incredibly protective of their favorite characters and story arcs and would get physical in their defence. It was like bringing up  _Lord of the Rings_ anywhere near Elizabeta or Jackson or  _Star Trek_  near Erik, Tino or Georgi, the fights would get vicious fast over a poorly made comment.

In fact, it was by common consensus that if you had nothing pleasant to say about a character, story or series, you kept it to yourself.

Between Ludwig, Elizabeta, Yao, Georgi, Nicolai and sometimes Gilbert (depending on his mood), things ran fairly smoothly as they made sure there was enough food to go around, got replacement candles and other necessities and made sure that any bickering/prank wars never got out of hand. Gilbert was especially good at the last one and the worst culprits (Yong Soo, Kaoru, Peter, Mathias and Jackson) quickly learned to recognize the gleam in his eyes and stop before they'd wake up covered in toffee and sprinkles and hanging from the ceiling.

There had been a few rough moments as they got used to the others but once they'd adjusted to one another's quirks, routines and habits, they worked like a well oiled machine.

Which was good, because once they gained their abilities and began training to master them, they had enough problems on their hands.

Matthew had trained very hard to gain some mastery over his gift because any time he felt anything other then calm, it would affect the lights. The candles would remain lit but if he felt happy, ecstatic, pleased or anything positive, it could get very bright very fast whereas if it felt nervous, scared, unhappy or anything negative, the light went out. Which, as mentioned before, freaked Peter out no small amount. After the first few times, he stopped screaming and tried not to show Matthew how upset he was because it made him upset that he was upsetting Peter and didn't help anything and had been relieved when the other managed to gain some control. However, despite Matt's progress, most days you could see Peter either nearby or holding Matthew's hand, so he could 'practice' suppressing powers.

Berwald seemed to more or less have his ability already under control and, with enough bribery (usually chocolate), could be convinced to power an old laptop that they could then watch movies on or a radio. Though if he got annoyed or upset, he would accidentally (or not so accidentally depending) shock those nearby until he calmed down.

Arthur and Georgi had been the most helpful to the pair, offering tips and tricks they had used in understanding and controlling their own powers. After all, their powers were similar in that they manipulated something physical with their minds and their control was also influenced by their emotions. Sometimes their advice was very helpful, sometimes...it really wasn't. Neither Matthew or Arthur would explain to the others what had happened between them that day in the 'training' cave as usually they got along great but considering all of the scorch marks, that Matt refused to talk to Arthur after and that Georgi had to step in to prevent the cave from collapsing, whatever was suggested and/or tried had been something else. On a more positive note, it was how they discovered that Matthew's ability to control light extended to lasers as well.

Kiku, on the other hand, typically talked to Nicolai or Erik when he had any questions and could frequently be found meditating as he created and strengthened his mental shields so he wasn't constantly barraged with the thoughts of others. However, as his control grew so to did his power and he had accidentally begun answered questions mentally or ended up in someone  _else's_  head a few times while meditating. Nobody blamed him as he struggled to get a handle on his powers but it didn't go unnoticed that some of them with darker histories, mostly the oldest among them, avoided him until he had it more under control.

Gilbert and Ludwig both got more sick within the first week of their being there, their fevers spiking at 39.4C (103F), leaving them weak and caused Gilbert to hallucinate a little. However, both pulled through and had developed abilities of their own.

Ludwig's showed first as, when still bedridden, he played with some of the Avenger toys with Peter and Yong Soo and to all of their surprise, the toys began moving under their own power to Ludwig's narration. He quickly became distracted (after all, who wouldn't?) and they stopped. With experimentation and concentration, he could make anything inanimate, animate; immediately making him the favourite person to play with among the youngest of them. After all, he could make toys act out things and had even briefly made the child's tea set move around as they watched  _Beauty and the Beast_ when he realized that it was Mathias's favourite movie - he insisted it was because of the fight scene at the end, but Ludwig had seen his face light up in delight at the  _Be Our Guest_ song.

Gilbert's was a bit trickier and, in a desperate bid to keep him from hurting himself (as he got more and more creative trying to make it manifest), Alfred and Miguel had taken him to an internet cafe above ground for some information gathering. They were going to then go shopping but instead had had to hightail it out of there when it turned out that Gilbert was now a technopath. As soon as they entered the cafe, they noticed people making startled noises as random searches and the like began popping up as he unintentionally interfered and when they internally panicked as they realized what might be the cause, Gil accidentally shut all the power to the computers off. They had quickly left with a number of grumblers and had returned empty handed and Gil was then banned from going above ground until he could make their ancient laptop conform to his whims.

The Asians had all gotten sick shortly after in October and therefore had all had their powers emerge at roughly around the same time. Yao had recovered first and had offered to cook dinner when Mei Mei, bored and being made to help (unlike her brothers), had thrown a cushion at Yong Soo...but over Kaoru's head so it looked like Kaoru had thrown it. Yong Soo, also bored and a little stir crazy from being made to rest, had instantly retaliated by whipping it back but at Kaoru. Kaoru, not seeing it coming was annoyed (especially as he hadn't completely kicked the fever yet) and proceeded to chase the Korean in order to enact revenge.

However, there was one small problem as Yong Soo ran, he sped up so that after four seconds he was running so quickly he was already on the other side of the cave and had promptly run into the wall as it 'appeared' in front of him. So not only was the mischievous, hyperactive kid gifted with super speed, but he couldn't figure out how to walk and kept finding himself at his destination much faster then anticipated and kept crashing into everyone and everything. This might have been why some of his siblings abilities developed at the same time. In attempting to avoid their excited adopted brother, Kaoru accidentally turned his body into a gas causing Yong Soo to speed right through him and into Yao who then subconsciously opened a portal below his feet and then fell through the ceiling into the hammocks a few seconds later. It was only when everyone was eating dinner did they discover Mei Mei's ability... any ingredient she had touched when cooking had developed poisonous properties and after Erik's gift had neutralized it enough that it wouldn't kill them, everyone had had to spend the evening under the care of those who hadn't yet eaten the stew and a profusely apologizing Mei Mei.

Things had calmed down a bit after that as Mathias helped Yong Soo learn to turn his ability 'off', Yao and Kaoru practised together as while both were proficient at meditating, if startled, their ability would react defensively (Matthew had been very helpful here) and all three soon had minimal control over their abilities. The big problem from the incident came from Mei Mei as everyone had to just about constantly reassured her that they didn't like her any less for having accidentally poisoned them and that she wasn't evil or anything like that for how her gift had developed. She had really only calmed when Erik and Miguel sat her down with a book stolen from the library to show her that poisons could also be used as medicine, she just had to practice at which ones she was making.

Comparatively, when Roderich and Miguel got sick and survived, their gifts were much less disruptive. Roderich's had manifested pretty much immediately; Matthew was getting the youngest ready for bed and while he tried to coax Mathias and Peter into bushing their teeth, Jackson, Mei Mei and Kaoru all clambered into the cushions to join him and Roderich began to hum a lullaby. It had startled all of them as Debussy's  _Claire de Lune_ complete with full orchestra joined in, the sound of violins, violas, violincellos, oboes, flutes, English horns, bassoons, double-basses and a harp echoing around the cave walls. After that, not a day would go by with someone requesting a happily acquiescing Roderich to play some tune or another; especially the ever-popular soundtracks like the  _Pirates of the Caribbean_ theme.

Miguel's, much like Yao and co., had his ability manifested in the kitchen when he was on dinner duty and was surprised when dried herbs became fresh again and began to grow and the vegetables all mostly became larger except, to his dismay, the potatoes had instead begun to grow eyes, one even had a small sprout beginning to grow! Since then, his ability with plants had him pretty much stuck on making at least one meal a day as he could stretch the vegetables farther and everything tasted so much fresher (though someone else had to handle the root veggies).

Feliciano got sick shortly before Christmas and everyone got to meet a truly overprotective Lovino who hovered and fretted as his fever climbed and climbed to spike at 41.1C (106F). It had been a little touch and go but with the help of Erik and the cool pool of water down the tunnel, they were eventually able to bring it down from the life-threatening temperature.

The day before Christmas, something Lovino had not celebrated in two years and had not really realized he'd missed, Bohemia looked like the 2Euro store had exploded inside of it. There were scraps of cheap craft supplies and holiday decorations strewn all over the place and All the youngest ones were setting about making decorations to hang around the cave like paper snowflakes and clothespin reindeer while Yong Soo was running around with small baskets full to each side of the cavern, distributing various items there before running all the way back.

Two nights ago, Al stayed up to keep vigil with him at Feli's bedside and had confided about how nervous and excited he was about celebrating the holiday again when his family hadn't for nearly a decade now. He was a little upset too because he had followed Lovi's advice and had been saving up money to get Miguel a new math exercise book and glasses for Matt. However, after the mess that happened at the ring, it had been a few days before he was able to return to the church to gather their things and had been dismayed to see that someone had found and stolen the pouch of money and so had nothing to give them. Lovi had patted his shoulder in sympathy, he had nothing to give his brother either, for all that he wanted to offer him the world, and agreed that it was all very overwhelming.

He looked over now to where Alfred, Miguel and Matthew were setting up a fake tree they had found in a dumpster which such enthusiasm, no one had the heart to tell them the pieces weren't supposed to go in that order and that it was lopsided...especially when, to all of their surprise, it remained standing.

Yao and his motley crew had set about making decorative covers for candles/lanterns and one or two paper lanterns so that soft coloured light lit the room in all sorts of shapes. Gilbert, Ludwig and Arthur were helping the Mathias, Peter, Jackson, Kaoru and Steven make and hang stockings on the wall and hang paper chains from the ceiling. By the mountain of pillows, Georgi and Kiku were making popcorn strings while Erik and Nicolai were painting previously made paper-maché ornaments.

While all of this was going on Elizabeta, Berwald and Tino were making lunch and smiling amused at the chaos. Lovi was sitting with Feli again who very much wanted to get up and join in but was still recovering so Lovi had given him a bottle full of pebbles and grabbed a pair of spoons himself before conscripting Roderich to create some music that they could provided accompaniment for.

So after a few renditions – there had been a few encores – of Adam Sandler's  _Chanukah song, Frosty the Snowman, I Ain't Getting Nuttin' for Christmas_ and _Bob & Doug Mackenzie's Twelve Days of Christmas _("Three French Toast, Two Turtlenecks and a Beer!...In a tree."), they had moved onto more traditional carols. They sang  _Carol of the Bells, Jingle Bell Rock, Silver bells, Sleigh Bells, Jingle Bells_... before they got sick of the songs with 'Bells' in the title and moved on to  _God rest ye Merry Gentlemen_ , and a song about a  _Silent Night_.

As they finished their tasks and/or got tired, more people went and got food before they drifted over to join in until, by the time they were finished, everyone was curled in the nearby cushions and hammocks, just listening or joining in when they knew the song. After all, with all of the candles, decorations and the slight echo in the cave combined with the music and lights, it felt like they could be in a great theatre.

It was when they sang  _What Child Is This_ that blurry images began to appear, becoming clearer as they went on. Lovi turned to stare at his brother who had a Cheshire grin stretched across his face as he sang, delighting at how, with each word that fell of his tongue, the story in the air followed along. Lovi waited until he was done before he hugged him close in relief at the evidence that his brother had made it through and also that he had such a beautiful ability.

Feli's gift had appeared, he could bring his words to life.

* * *

Týr tried to keep the manic grin from his face. He really did. It was just so  _hard._ After months of walking, he had made it to the outskirts Paris and had taken refuge in one of the old quarry tunnels. He was close to where the Organization had narrow the location of the others down to, he would find them and soon they would be able to take a plane out of here (by sneaking on of course, do you think they could make it through security? He didn't think so) and go to some place in the middle of nowhere where the Organization would  _never_ find any of them.

That and his hair had finally grown enough that it covered his ears keeping them warm while it snowed. Did he mention it was the first time he had seen snow fall since his captivity began (the stuff on the mountain had NOT counted. It was already there)? He was trying so hard to resist running out and catching some on his tongue, knowing a strange child with no supervision running around like a nutcase would attract unwanted attention.

Looking out again at the lights from the city, he felt a good feeling wash over him again.

Things were changing again, for the better this time. He could feel it.

* * *

***This is an allusion to Shakespeare's _Hamlet_. I normally let allusions go un-pointed out but I thought it might really confuse someone. When he says something is rotten in the state of Denmark, it means that something is very wrong, not that they're in Denmark suddenly or I'm going to move the setting of this to Denmark.**

**Song for this Chapter: Broken Wings by Mr. Mister**


	11. Little Lion Man

**AN- I don't own Hetalia.  
**

_Even if you win the rat race, you're still a rat_

* * *

He stepped out into the blustery cold night, leaving lone footprints in the newly fallen snow and began walking upriver. Francis breathed out, enjoying how his breath crystallized in the air, the quiet crunching of the snow beneath his feet and the quiet and peace the night gave him. He could see Notre Dame peaking out between buildings as he crossed the cobblestone, lighting a cigarette as he did so, something he only did when he was trying to clear his mind.

There was something he was missing here, something crucial, but what was it?

_Crunch, crunch._

Looking over the facts again: targets were specific children, eighteen and younger whose parents were involved in some sort of project. They struck at sun down and were not after small time money. Governments were interested.

_Crunch, crunch._

The question remained of why and which program it was. There was something there to connect his niece to these other children but what?

_Crunch, crunch._

He stopped, taking a brief drag and letting the smoke drift through his lips, and looked at the grave, pious figures carved into the Cathedral front, "I don't suppose you have any of the answers. It is said nothing can be hidden from the eyes of Notre Dame, do you see what is happening?"

There was no answer, but then again, Francis wasn't really expecting one.

He began walking again, perhaps the man that had been tailing him the past few blocks would be able to provide him with some answers instead.

He began to run, darting through all the back routes, managing to lose the man and by doubling back, he managed to get behind his pursuer. Quickly unsheathing the hidden knife he had been carrying, he snuck up behind the other, pressing it to his throat.

"Tell me," he whispered in his ear as the man struggled, "Why have you been following me?"

"Wasn't following you," the man said smugly, suddenly going limp "I was the bait."

Francis immediately began to step back, to get out, but a large hand and cloth clasped over his mouth and nose, simultaneously shoving him against the wall, pinning him. He began to struggle, but the chloroform worked quickly and his world went black.

In the distance, the bells of Notre Dame suddenly rang for but an instant before going ominously silent.

* * *

By the new year, they had all come into their gifts with a relative grace. Sure there were still slip ups but they were learning.

Okay, Gilbert thought looking down at the smoking ruin that was once a cell phone (a cheap 5E one at least), maybe with less grace than he'd like. He'd managed to more or less master his gift but phones continued to out-stubborn and explode on him.

As more and more of them managed to gain minimal control of their abilities, it became increasingly clear that they needed to be able to determine their limits and practice their control because with every gain in control it seemed their powers grew. For example, Gilbert's ability went from just affecting technology with wifi capabilities to anything with a microchip. Despite being a self-acknowledged free-spirit (or reckless as Ludwig called it), he refused to leave the underground tunnels until he stopped accidentally overloading and exploding technology (read: cellphones). He would hate to accidentally to produce a similar catastrophic failure/explosion to say, someone's pacemaker or some of the fancier cars on the road.

He wasn't the only one, Alfred had been delighted at first by his ability to create zephyrs and wind currents but, after a nightmare, he had accidentally created a mini tornado by the beanbags which had taken  _hours_ to clean up and since had been over cautious about creating the smallest breeze. Miguel had caused a mini forest to grow by the kitchen that no one could get past, Roderich had, with a scream, ruptured a number of ear drums the one time Mathias snuck up on him and had refused to even talk for days after and Feliciano had to figure out how to turn his ability  _off_  because to be surrounded by images when you were trying to have a conversation was very distracting. Lovino had a similar problem; his gift allowed him to learn/remember anything after seeing it once and had found this out after watching a mixed martial arts marathon. This was very handy for learning new things but could be awful as he couldn't get it to stop and could remember  _anything_ with vivid detail. Gilbert winced as he recalled the lecture he and Al had been treated to when they had said they couldn't see what could be so awful about that.

Elizabeta's mishaps at least were much more welcome when they occurred as she had gained the ability to transmute substances from one to another so while she had trouble at first eating or anything, they were no longer short on funds due to the amount of gold forks, copper pillows and silver string she had inadvertently created. Though they somewhat dreaded the day her ability evolved so that she was able to create more unstable elements (all alkali metals, caesium and francium being the biggest concern).

Explosions in the morning were still not on the top ten of preferred ways to wake up by anyone's standards.

Even Steven who had come into his ability three years prior occasionally got overwhelmed: the last time he had torn apart a number of hammocks until he got the tiger instincts back under control.

Thus began the daily morning routine of everyone moving to one of the larger caverns in one of the closed tunnels for the day, this one closer to city limits (just in case something went wrong and they caused a collapse) and let loose in an attempt to gain more control over their abilities.

They had had fun playing around and seeing what worked and what didn't. They were there to cheer the successful experiments on and console/get back under control the ones that didn't work so well. In a way, letting go was what seemed to allow them to gain a little more control and it seemed as if with each passing day they grew stronger and more practised.

For once in their lives, they felt in control of themselves and of their environment and Gilbert was loving it.

Now if only he could stop blowing up phones, he'd be set.

* * *

Gupta's eyes opened with a snap.

Hovering above him was the ghost of a priest's from the 1800's that he had made friends with at Notre Dame months ago. Seeing the child awake, he looked at him for permission before sinking into his body, possessing him and allowing the Father to show him Francis's fall and the approaching army of men in black.

His news delivered, he disappeared while Gupta immediately ran to wake Sadiq and Heracles. His ability to see the dead had kept them out of the clutches of the creepers in suits before and they simply reacted, not even second guessing his news.

As per the routine, Gupta grabbed his and Sadiq's backpacks while Sadiq picked Heracles up piggy back so the other boy could activate his own gift, his mind leaving his body to watch the surrounding property to give them as much of an advanced warning as possible. This took only seconds as their things already packed (a habit they had carried from their years on the streets and not one they were planning on breaking anytime soon) and then Gupta was running down to the second floor to wake Antonio and Michelle while Sadiq went to the ground level just as Heracles returned with the news that they had less than two minutes.

Antonio shouted frantically for Francis as he pulled on a shirt and followed them downstairs before finding the note Francis had left when the sounds of doors slamming and of someone trying to break the door down caused them to retreat further. Gupta could see the moment the adult realized and prepared himself to try to defend them with little more than a pistol.

_Crash._

They were in the house now, angry footsteps thudding everywhere as Antonio quickly led them to the root cellar, looking for a place to hide them and blocking the door as best he could. Gupta and the other two were grim, having been in similar situations due to house raids during their time in a gang and also from having spent the last year or so evading the men on the floor above them – however, Michelle had not. She had been nearly kidnapped once before but had otherwise led a normal life and was panicking.

The door creaked as a great force hit it, but remained firm for now.

Michelle broke off her frantic mutterings by jerking her head up and darting across the room, throwing boxes and the like to the side in an effort to get to the old brick wall. Her pupils dilated a little too much for the light, she appeared to have succumbed to the stress and Sadiq moved to restrain her but she then pushed on brick she had just uncovered... and just like that, the situation was no longer so dismal as a tiny passage opened.

Michelle, gesturing for them to follow ducked in and began to crawl until she could no longer be seen, Heracles and Sadiq quickly following. Gupta, however, remained behind.

"You will not fit, will you Mr. Carriedo." He asked flatly.

Antonio looked at the boy, surprised before sighing. "No, my shoulders are too wide. You go, I will hide the passage again and stall for time for you. Take care of Michelle in my place would you? Francis would have my head otherwise."

As the door began to groan under the stress of the beating it was enduring, signifying it's near destruction, Antonio pushed him to the exit before piling boxes, tools and old camping equipment in the front. "Good luck."

As Gupta pushed the hidden door back in place and heard the basement door shatter, he whispered quietly "Good luck to you as well Mr. Carriedo."

He then crawled after the other three, gunfire and shouts echoing behind him and when he caught up, the others knew what had happened and tears threatened to escape before Michelle led them on. Instinctively she seemed to know the way through the corridors below the house into the sewers and across the city through more hidden passages and back routes then Gupta knew to exist in the city.

* * *

Necolai experienced a similar waking to Gupta when he woke from the nap he had at lunch, horrifying images replaying as he rolled out of the hammock with a shout.

Panicking, he ran from the cave, yelling at Al and Kiku to go into lock-down as he did and grabbing Georgi and Kaoru as he did so.

This couldn't be happening, it was too soon. Far too soon.

This was not what he had seen a few nights ago, they were supposed to have a few more months, that was what they had planned for, prepared for. And it was now falling to pieces.

Emerging on the other side, he told Georgi to seal off any possible entrances to their haven before hiding himself in the rock to only allow those outside in. It was still day above, they thought they had been safe so they had sent two groups out of the safety of Bohemia. Kaoru was now going to the training cavern to get Ludwig, Tino, Kiku, Mathias and Matt while he was praying he would be able to make it to the market. They were out of food and various supplies so Miguel, Lovino, Feliciano, Roderich, Erik, Yao, Mei Mei, Yong Soo, Peter, Steven, Berwald and Elizabeta were all above ground, far away from any true protection and the Black Suits were closing in.

He had to warn them.

He heard footsteps behind him and saw both Gilbert and Arthur chasing after him, fire in their eyes; clearly intending to go with him.

Quickly weaving through the tunnels, the hidden passages before climbing into the métro tunnels, Necolai reached the surface in a matter of minutes and darted over to the market where he remembered the others to frequently go to due to it's prices and proximity to other favoured stores.

However, he was nearly too late. He found Feli, Lovi, and Peter by the vegetable stand and grabbed the closest one to him, Feliciano, gaining all of their attention. "There is no time! They are here now!" But just as he said that, a hooded figure grabbed Lovino and a brawl erupted as they realized they had been surrounded.

It was exactly as his dream had shown him.

Quickly, Necolai turned to Feli and said. "Run. For the love of God, RUN!" He then tackled the nearest enemy in the hopes it would give the others a space to run through.

Desperation overtook him as he fought his way over to where Mei Mei and Erik were fighting, back to back, trying to think of ways to get them out. He saw Arthur manage to get to where Elizabeta was protecting Peter and tossed his brother to Yao who then boosted him into the air for Berwald to catch by leaning over the bridge above. Gilbert fought like a man possessed over to the fountain where Lovino and Yong Soo were trying to get over to where Roderich and Steven were holding their own on the opposing side, trying to edge over to the side where they could hopefully escape the riot/mob and get to safety.

It was chaos, they were biting, scratching, punching, kicking, pinching, screaming for help but they were on their own and were slowly being overpowered as they didn't dare use their powers openly. However, they were still just kids and they were outnumbered and Nicolai watched in horror as they went down one by one. In attempting to block a baton heading for Yao, Arthur left himself open and was knocked out viciously, followed soon by Yao who couldn't protect his own back. As the fighting began to evolve into a full out riot, Yong Soo and Lovino were downed by darts (at least what Nicolai hoped was darts) and he saw Steven take a baton to the head and crumple. Nicolai tried to pass through the mob to get to where Gilbert was and saw him grab a small child (who had likely been separated from her parents) and was in danger of being crushed and pushed her up to the safety of one of the higher levels. This, however, left him unprotected from the blows of their attackers and a club lay him out on the marble, bloody and unconscious. Necolai felt overwhelming guilt, why had his gift failed him? He could have prevented this from ever happening! It was almost a relief when he was knocked out as well, captured for whatever fate.

* * *

Feeling an increased sense of urgency, Týr wandered farther into the quarry tunnels, by now he had long since learned to trust their instincts. He moved as quickly as he dared through the darkness, knowing he was going deeper, deeper then she thought these tunnels could and could only hope he wouldn't become one of the many who were lost down here to their deaths.

He paused every now and again to listen, to use his ice to try to get a better sense of where the tunnels led and how stable they were and in one of those pauses, his sensitive hearing heard faint footsteps. Deciding to remain still for now, a minute later two terrified boys came speed walking past with a small lighter to guide their way.

Were they like him?

The Organization had believed that the ones still eluding them were hiding in the tunnels so it could very well be. They could very well be, Týr concluded, why else would two young kids be so deep in the tunnels like this? Now how to get their attention?

Well, fortune favours the brave and stupid right? A split second decision had him throwing out a hand to create a wall of ice in front of them...and a ball of lightening connected first with his head and then chest, he decided fortune was a dick.

As he stumbled back, he could see the duo preparing for a fight, he put his hands out in what he hoped was I-come-in-peace kind of gesture (it had been so long, too long since he had met someone new) and a smile. Smiles were a friendly gesture, right? Seeing them stiffen, Týr decided that he needed to work on body language and smiles a bit more.

Now, how to get their trust, to show that they had a common enemy? They couldn't remain here for much longer... Concentrating, he created a simulacrum of his 'trainer' back at the Organization out of ice, suit and scary expression included. He then put his fist through it and mimed running with a scared expression.

Apparently he was better at looking scared as they relaxed their guards a bit which was something at least but they looked confused. There was no time for this though!

Any idea hit him, and he pulled the collar of his shirt down enough to expose the number and symbol branded into his skin to the faint light coming from the lighter and opened his mouth enough to show why he wasn't talking. He then pointed to the shattered ice and mimed running again.

"You're...You're running from them too?" The young boy with the sailor cap asked tentatively.

Týr 'smiled' broadly and nodded while pointing at him then gave him a thumbs up.

The boy frowned and after a moments thought and a few hand signs in a sort of private sign language to the other he then said "Ok, you can come with us but just in case, we're going to blindfold you until one of ours can vouch for you."

Týr nodded, they were cautious. Good. And honestly, for the guarantee of having somewhere safe to sleep, he would've agreed to just about anything. Before they could do anything, he took off his coat (holding it between his knees) and then his tshirt before rolling the latter and tying it around his head, putting the coat back on after.

They were silent and he cocked his head to the side in a silent question.

Gentle hands then gripped his hand and shoulder and began to steer him forward, "Sorry, we were just surprised by your scars."

His scars? They weren't that bad... If they were surprised by them, they should see Ivan, Yves or Natalia; by comparison his handler was quite gentle.

He shrugged and just did his best to go where the hand pointed him. Soon he was going to be safe, he would have a safe place to sleep and he would never have to go back.

* * *

None of the others made it back down to the safety of Bohemia after Peter and Berwald arrived.

Feli and Roderich had arrived a minute or two before them, the latter with a broken arm and heavily bloodied while Feliciano had a blackened eye and a deep gash on his arm. Feli had escaped with Berwald when Nicolai tackled one of the attacking Agents and Roderich had managed to hide in the debris of a crushed cart until he was able to work the sewer grate open and slip into the tunnels.

Feli sat there as though one dead, stunned. His brother, the one who had always protected him, been by his side, held him when things were unbearable, was gone. Most of those in the room were in the same boat, the ones that had been there for them, held them together, protected them, loved them, reassured them that everything would be alright, were gone.

There was also the matter of the boy who had found Peter and Berwald in the tunnels. When they arrived in Bohemia, they had explained what little they knew and a distraught Kiku – who appeared grateful for the distraction – was soon after asking him for his permission to look through his thoughts. Within seconds though, he had tears streaming down his face and was pale and shaking; Týr was apparently a result of the horrors of what the Organization could do.

The young boy had escaped and had come to find them, to try to warn them of the impending raid and hoping to find sanctuary and the news threw them all deeper into despair. The somewhat ambiguous fate of those grabbed was now crystal clear, they would be experimented on, then broken to the bridle so that they could eventually be sold like cattle to the highest bidder, transformed into little more than a dog of the military, a living weapon.

"Now what?" Tino said, brokenly, Berwald's arm around him (though not touching bare skin).

"The governments against us, the world's against us. They were snatched in the middle of the day, in plain sight.  _No one did anything_. There's nothing we can do, they'll come for us just as they came for them." Mathias said, resigned.

"No." Alfred said quietly, before standing and saying with more conviction. "No. I have had ENOUGH!" Alfred shouted fiercely into the subdued silence of the cave. "They have pushed us around, destroyed our lives, taken what is precious to us, I will NOT allow them to STEAL AWAY what little I have LEFT! I'm a human being, I want to live as I want and enjoy my basic rights! I will not  _wait_  for them to take us, to take away the lives we have built for ourselves and our freedom. I will not lay down without a  _fight._ "

"What can we do?" Peter said bitterly from where he sat, "we're just kids. They could have captured us, but they decided to wait, we're easy prey and they know it. Do you know of anywhere we could hide? How can we overpower them, they have guns, technology, we have  _rocks_." He kicked one as if to prove his point.

"We have more than rocks." Alfred answered, his voice ringing around the cave. "We have our abilities. Now they may seem useless, but that's because we haven't realized their full potentials yet. Look at my brother's gift: he can manipulate light. So what, he'll blind those he's fighting with? ...Well, that is actually an advantage in a fight but that's not the point! You know what else? Think outside the box.  _Lasers_ are light, the things you can cut diamonds with. Roderich's gift should allow him to mess with his opponent's inner ear – y'know, the only thing that keeps your balance and you upright? They'd have to crawl in order to move. Georgi can move the Earth, that covers not only the soil beneath their feet but any stone, any brick; you could easily capture and crush them. Ludwig can make toys come to life, but what would happen if he were to use his gift on the trees or even the bones that compose the tunnels above? I'll tell you what. They are going to  **REGRET** _ever_ coming near my family and all of you who have become like family. What have we to lose? They will not kill us, they need us and if we let them do as they wish, we will be chained up soon enough! Why should we fear? They want a fight and we  _will_  give them a fight. "

Taking a deep breath, he then quietly breathed out the rest into the ringing silence, as they held onto his every word.

"They are the ones that did this too us, what right to they have to lock us up, experiment on us, use us? We will not remain silent, we will not go with a fight, we need to draw a line in the sand. They have been pushing our lives around for too long. Much too long. We are not collateral damage in the search for new weapons, for being the weapons of a new world war, for the conquest of others."

He paced the room as he spoke, his gestures getting more and more impassioned with each word before he then stopped and smacked his open palm with his fist.

"We need to hit them and hit it where it hurts, we will do this, make it public what has been done to us, what their government has been doing– hit them in the wallet and in public approval. Let us destroy their lives as they have destroyed ours! We have endured enough, now is the time to struggle, to crawl out from the boot squashing us and show we have fangs, that they will not break us!"

Alfred's control slipped for a moment letting a great gust of wind blow around the chamber causing the glowing candles to burst into enormous flame as he snarled "Until there is justice and our family back together, Paris shall know no peace and neither shall the rest of the world! Let us shake the foundations, make them fear what they have created, unleashed. Let this be our declaration of war against them!"

And they all roared their approval back.

* * *

**Song this time – Little Lion Man by Mumford and Sons**

**I cannot tell you how much fun I had writing Alfred's speech – I hope it didn't come off too strong, did you like it?**


	12. Abraham's Daughter

**AN- We are nearly caught up to where I was before! This means, that as soon as I am caught up, I will go back to updating all of my stories (not just this one) and updates will be slower as I won't have a good portion already written. Sorry.**

**I do not own Hetalia, just my plot.**

* * *

_Roses are #FF0000. / Violets are #0000FF. / All my base / are belong to you./ /POEM_

* * *

"They were weapons."

That was all that Kiku was able to say at first, his eyes wide in horror and looking sick. Feliciano went and made him and Týr some tea, hoping it would sooth his friends nerves and allow him to say more. Týr gave a small nod as thanks and began to sip it while Kiku stared blankly down at his mug.

Eventually they were able to work out a system where Kiku would repeat the words that Týr was saying in his mind and Týr would do his utmost to prevent any memories from being attached to the words. "They pushed all of us, all the kids they captured." Kiku began, "pushed until you thought your mind would break, you thought you were dead and nothing else mattered but it  _stopping_."

Týr paused, his hands shaking and his eyes blank before he looked at them sadly and continued to send messages to Kiku. "For those of us that weren't kidnapped, it was because the Organization blackmailed them. I'm sure it happened to your families too – blacklisting them so they were unable to find work, forcibly making them addicted to illegal substances that only they could then provide, sending them threatening messages until their minds collapsed from paranoia. There is nothing that they would not do and did not do to get a hold of us."

Upon hearing this, the others blood ran cold. Peter knew that his father had turned to alcohol after not being able to find work, the Beilschmidts knew that after the death of their uncle that Social Services should have actually looked after them, or at least treated them with more than mild indifference, Kaoru and Kiku actually felt better, perhaps their parents hadn't truly wanted to abandon them after all... Each began to look back on their own lives and see where the Organization could have played a hand, making sure no one helped them and that they were on their own, easy pickings.

"It hurts to think about really. What they wanted the most was to find out just how far our mutation would extend and just how they could use it as a weapon. They'd make us run these horrible mazes, shock us, experiment on us. The girl from Belarus, Natalia I believe her name was, she could manipulate her bones so they would do things like break them and make her set them using only her power or remove them entirely and makes her regrow them. The kid from Wales, Aneiren was super strong and they'd make him carry more and more weight until he could barely stand anymore and the only reason he didn't give up was that he'd be crushed. Yves from Cameroon was able to manipulate matter, so they'd make him along with Katyusha from Ukraine run a gauntlet of bullets and fire until he was able to make his skin steel and strong enough to withstand it and until she could get the iron in the room to shield herself. One of the worst cases I saw was Ivan from Russia, he was immune to what he'd been exposed to. So once he'd been cut by a knife, knives could no longer damage him; the one day we shared a cell, they brought him back so bloody and broken, I was sure he would die."

Kiku looked like he would be sick again and Týr rubbed his back soothingly and they seemed to have a bit of a private conversation before Kiku took a shaky breath and continued. "That was how I lost my tongue actually, Ivan and I were among the first to arrive and they thought that if they gave me some of his blood, my tongue would regrow. And if not, I would stop screaming each time they stuck me in the freezer so I suppose they thought it was win-win. The thing is, is that Ivan's ability doesn't allow him to heal anyway so it wouldn't have succeeded regardless."

Feliciano saw red. If they were angry before, now they were furious; the thought about what those that had been captured could be going through at that very moment was heart-wrenching.

If they had hurt his brother, if they had hurt his family...He would make them  _pay_.

* * *

In the early evening, Kaoru and Georgi slowly made their way above ground, holding hands the entire time, nerves on high alert. If they so much as heard anything that sounded like a footstep, Georgi would sink into any nearby stone while Kaoru turned into a gas and would let him know when the coast was clear. It was slow going but they eventually managed to made it to the tunnels under Chinatown and Viet and Thai's restaurant.

After Kaoru made sure the coast was clear, Georgi shifted the rock so he rose from the ground, right at the back door of the restaurant. As Georgi stood guard, holding onto one of Kaoru in order to be ready to retreat quickly and bring the other boy with him through the stone, Kaoru knocked on the door.

It was quiet at first before the lights in the kitchen turned on and the door opened slightly, just enough for Thai's voice – sounding uncharacteristically plaintive – to be heard.

"Sorry, ana, we're closed...and please use the front door next time." The door was about to close when Kaoru jammed his foot in the way and quickly said "Shūshu Thai! It's me, Kaoru!"

The door flew open and there, in a mourning white button up and pants and looking astonished, stood Thai. "K-Kaoru? You're alive! "

Kaoru quickly found himself in a tight hug and being spun around while a rapid stream of Vietnamese and Thai was whispered in his ear. After he was put down Thai quickly ushered him and Georgi into the house – though not before taking a quick look around behind them as though Kaoru's adopted siblings would suddenly appear behind them.

Viet, hearing Thai talking, came into the room and soon Kaoru found himself in another tight embrace.

While he was deprived of air by his Gūmā, Thai asked, "Are you alright? Where are the others Kaoru?...Viet, dear, I think the boy isn't supposed to be such a pale colour."

Quickly, he was released to stammered apologies and he quietly said, "That's why I'm here Gūmā, Shūshu, the apartment burned because some evil men were trying to capture us and yesterday, you saw the riot on TV? Everyone but Kiku and I were captured; these people are why we were abandoned here when we were little, there was a drug they gave our mothers and..." He took a deep breath before slowly turning his body into a gas, "...we can now do strange things because of it. They want to us as weapons. Shūshu, Gūmā we need your help. Please."

Both adults started when he change and then stiffened at his words, Viet's eyes flickering to the side where a long rice paddle leaned against the wall and Thai shifting slightly, his old training reflexively readying him. They looked at each other and had a quick but silent conversation before Viet turned to him, her expression steely. "What do you need?"

Never before had Kaoru been so grateful that his adoptive Aunt and Uncle had once been the Muay Thai world champion and the other a former delinquent who would take down any who were in her way... Sitting on the couch, Georgi and he quickly told them all that they knew.

* * *

"Glad you could finally join us." Rang a familiar voice, high above the mental fog that pervaded Antonio's brain. "Antonio? Come on sunshine, it's time to wake up."

Slowly, he blinked and shook his head, his skull hurt and not like he had a hangover but more like someone had clubbed him on the back of the head with a chair or...No wait, that was what happened. As he stirred, his mind began to piece bit by bit what had happened before he had been so gracelessly knocked out...

THE KIDS!

He shot up, headbutting the blur that was Francis and falling back, pain spiking now also in the front of his skull.

"Michelle, Gupta, Heracles and Sadiq!" He at last groaned out, "They aren't here are they?"

"No," Francis groaned back from where he lay on the floor, "And Christ Toni! What is your skull made of, titanium?"

Before Antonio could answer, a voice rang out over the loud speaker in the corner. "Hello Francis Bonnefoy and Antonio Carriedo, welcome to our facilities. You have caused something very precious to us to elude us once more. So, the decision has been made that until these valuable subjects are within these walls, that our scientists will instead work with you. Not to worry, all previous experiments horribly failed, but you are still young, so perhaps you will survive. Thank you for your co-operation and we look forward to working with you."

* * *

By the time morning came, Gupta, Sadiq, Heracles and Michelle were by all accounts, lost.

They couldn't even really see the Eiffel Tower or any of the other landmarks like Notre Dame or L'Arc de Triomphe. On the other hand, there were no black suits to be seen. Pooling together what little change they had with them, they were able to buy a crepe from a nearby stall and settled down on a bench.

The reality of what had happened just hours before had hit them and were focusing on the food in an effort not to cry in public. After all, they were four kids, unsupervised at eight in the morning on a school day and looking fairly lost: they couldn't afford to attract any more attention.

Heracles, having finished off his section, stared at a nearby flock of pigeons before he quietly murmured. "You know, I used to ask myself why birds choose to stay in one place, when they could fly anywhere on Earth...and then I asked myself the same thing. That was why I suggested we leave Nice behind, to leave our troubles and see the world...but it seems that the world is an even less friendly place. Is that why birds stay in one place? Do they choose to stick with the familiar instead of risking the unknown being any less friendly with more cats and birds of prey and the like?"

They sat in quiet again, empty plate forgotten in front of them before Sadiq said, "Don't be silly. They're birds. They can fly wherever they want and go where they want so wherever they are is exactly where they want to be; even if there are more cats or hawks. And anyway, doesn't it make you happy that birds don't go to the easiest place? Because then your precious cats would have nothing to catch and eat and then they would suffer and the place that all the birds went to would suffer as the food there ran out. Don't think too deeply about things like that idiot, you'll give yourself a headache."

Heracles gently rubbed the side of his head where Sadiq had tapped his fist. "...But aren't we like birds?" The others froze. "I mean, we may not be the richest or most powerful people in the world, but we do have those strange things we can do and shouldn't that count for something? Are we the ones who aren't flying when we can?"

Michelle went over and lightly smacked the other side of Heracles's head. "Herc, you can't think like that, like Sadiq said, you'll give yourself a headache. We are not like birds because we cannot fly, instead we have to use this..." she tapped his forehead, "instead to 'fly away'."

Gupta went and playfully whacked Heracles on the back of the head and when he was glared at, he smirked and said, "To match your other bumps, silly."

Heracles sighed, "Fine..." There was a bit of quiet before he spoke again. "Hey, guys look at that. One of those men in suits are on TV."

Curious, they got up and crossed the street, and sure enough, the small shop across the street had a few TV's in its display window and on every channel there was one of their hunters with the some government officials and reporters on screen.

Listening carefully, it was even possible to hear what the reporters were saying.

"...events of yesterday?"

The man looked into the camera, his gaze piercing. "The public has nothing to be concerned about. Those who sparked the riot yesterday in the market were dangerous criminals. Sadly, we were unable to apprehend all of their associates but with the support and help of all of Europe's governments and the general public working together, they should be behind bars in no time at all, making the streets safe once more."

"What should the public be on the look out for?" Asked one news reporter.

"Well..."

Before the suited man could continue, the screen fizzled and went out, a darker feed replacing it, with the subject clearly being filmed in a dark place with stone walls.

He was young, with brown eyes and auburn hair with a curl on one side and had a pained look that looked very out-of-place on his features. He seemed the type that would always be laughing and smiling and instead looked haunted, but despite his apparent youth, he seemed to command attention and soon there was a crowd standing around the window of the store.

* * *

Feliciano looked at the camera, hoping his nerves didn't betray him and cursing his luck for having drawn the short straw. They had gotten the camera from Viet and Thai while the others figured out how to hack into the network. Then they had first voted on who would be best at giving the address and then the three who had gotten the most votes (Alfred, Feliciano or Kiku) had drawn for it.

And unfortunately for him, Feli had won the draw.

He didn't really feel prepared or like the right person to give such a serious speech but once he heard the interview, he felt as though a fire was lit in his belly and when the recording light came on, the words just seemed to come to him.

"Sorry to interrupt your broadcast but you will be unable to continue until I say what we all have to say. How  _dare_ you call us 'dangerous criminals'. You and your employer's nerve astounds me! How  _dare_ you. We were nothing but kids trying to make our way in life after all the shit that you have pulled on us. My parents are DEAD now because YOU and your ORGANIZATION  _murdered_ them so you could kidnap my brother and I. And we were not the only ones, you blackmailed and bribed most of our caregivers into abandoning them on the streets and your threats resulted in rest being consumed by paranoia. For years we thought no one cared about us, ending up in underground fight rings, stealing, begging, doing nearly anything just to get by because of  _you_. Do have any idea of what that's like? Sleeping in playgrounds, fishing in rivers and dumpster diving for food, being unable to go to the drop in centres out of fear, having all of your belongings fit in a small bag, being always hungry? To exist as an undesirable?"

Feliciano took a deep breath and looked once more at the camera. "I'm sure you don't. However, that brings us to the question to just what do you, a government  _mercenary_ want with little nobodies like us? Especially as to start with: Criminals? Hardly. None of us have a criminal record for  _anything_ and while a few among us have stolen it was for food so we wouldn't starve to death in the streets. And I'm sure all the viewers out there are wondering that also about just how dangerous we are considering..."

The camera panned around and caught the grim faces of the rest of the inhabitants of Bohemia, making sure to focus on the youngest faces of Peter, Kiku, Kaoru, Mathias and Jackson.

"...we're all just kids. Because  _shockingly_ , not one of us is over eighteen, our youngest being seven. We were not a threat to society, we were much too self-absorbed for that, we were just trying to live, to get by. I say  _were_ because this is no longer true. Dangerous? We  _were_  not dangerous. We  _weren't_ , we were just interested in surviving in the lives  _you_ manipulated, destroyed and twisted beyond any normalcy. We  _weren't_ dangerous until the side-effects of the drugs you administered to us when we were foetuses began manifesting themselves. We  _weren't,_  not until you attacked our family, kidnapping them from the street. Until you used  _us_ to start a secret  _arms race_.  _That_  is why you are here, that is why all sorts of other governments have sent agents, don't give us this bullshit about 'catching dangerous criminals'. You want to be the first to grab us, to lock us up, use us and experiment us, turning us into mindless little soldiers. For those watching and have no clue what we're talking about, the drugs I mentioned earlier administered caused us to develop...abilities of a sort. "

On the monitor of the feed they'd interrupted, Feliciano could see the shocked reactions of the reporters and officials, though the suited man looked unperturbed. With a grim smirk he continued. "Yes, I meant  _experimented_ as well. We have heard much about you from research and from a young boy who was able to escape your facilities. Being not allowed to sleep, injected with diseases to see which would affect them, trapped in a dark room for weeks with no interaction until you're certain that you've gone mad, starved, beaten, walking until their feet  _bled_. We have heard of you."

As previously discussed, Týr came onto the screen, shirtless, allowing anyone to see how thin he was and for his hundreds of scars to be seen. "Týr was kidnapped from his bed when he was five and has been used as a guinea pig for the past six years. Týr can manipulate snow and ice so you saw fit to kidnap him, to tear up his body as much as you wanted, to  _cut out his tongue._ After all, he clearly isn't a child and it isn't like he's deserving of any basic human rights. It's in the name of science even, what is a life or two in the face of  _progress_?" Feli spat out bitterly with a sneer. "Nevermind that he's only a child and he felt every blade, every needle, every  _gunshot_  or  _grenade_ as it pierced his skin. And if you would do that to a five year old for six years...Tell me, what are you doing to the kids captured yesterday? What are you doing to my twin brother right now? Or Gilbert, Elizabeta, Miguel, Yong Soo, Yao, Mei Mei, Arthur, Erik, Necolai and Steven? Are you cutting them open? Making them run for hours without rest? Forcefully collecting blood? Beating them? Make them walk on coals? Forcing them to fight each other?"

He had to stop for a moment as he had clearly let his fury through and lost control of his ability, the air twisting to show his biggest fear – the faces of his family around him, contorting with pain and screaming silently. Collecting himself, he quietly hissed.

"We  _were_ not dangerous, no, but you have pushed us to this! You want to see how dangerous we can be? Fine, we will hide from you no longer, come,  _play_. It is clear that in this world, you must riot, you must protest, you must destroy just to be heard – and we want to be heard! That was a bad move on your part, we are now desperate and have nothing to lose. There is nothing left you can threaten or take away that is not already endangered while on the other hand, because of you, we are bred from the streets, of negligence and violence and we know the rules, how to push, how to  _break._  We are not afraid to risk what little we have left to go against you and the world governments that support your organization! And in our anger we have found we are  _POWERFUL._ "

Getting louder, he continued. "We are HERE! We will NOT be ignored anymore! There will be no more covering up or replastering, the structure is rotten and we. Will. Tear. It. Down! We will BEG for nothing. We will ASK for nothing. We will TAKE. We will OCCUPY. This is our declaration of war, and we will not stop, not until we have our family  **back.** "

It seemed as if he was done, but instead he leaned forward and whispered into the microphone, ensuring that his words were heard loud and clear. "And if it comes to it, the streets of Paris shall run once more red with blood that hasn't been seen since the Terror."

Then the screen imploded, the thinly veiled threat echoing in the ears of all who heard it.

* * *

**Song for this Chapter: Abraham's Daughter by Arcade Fire**

**According to the great and all-knowing interwebs white is the traditional colour of mourning in Thailand**

**I have been wanting to write that broadcast speech thing since about chapter 2 of this – So happy I got to now :D What did you think?**

**Gūmā, Shūshu – Aunt and Uncle in Chinese.**

**Please Review!**


	13. Wake The White Queen

**AN-** **I finished this chapter a lot faster than expected and decided to not make you guys wait another week (next update may be a while though).**

**I do not own Hetalia**

* * *

_One of the hardest decisions is knowing which bridge to cross and which to burn_

* * *

" _And if it comes to it, the streets of Paris shall run once more red with blood that hasn't been seen since the Terror."_

_Then the screen imploded, the thinly veiled threat echoing in the ears of all who heard it._

Not even an hour had passed since the broadcast and already the men in suits were out in force, having completely forgone any attempt at subtlety to track them down. With the support of the government and the assistance of the police, any children out of school without parents/caregiver with them who were able to prove that the child was in their custody.

Gupta, Sadiq, Heracles and Michelle had never run so hard in their lives.

Around every corner, danger seemed to be lurking, a pair of hands ready to snatch them up. So far, they had managed to remain free solely from the help of Michelle's formerly unknown knowledge of every nook and cranny of the streets; leading them through windows, sewers, alleys, across fence tops and over roofs. Every now and again ghosts would warn Gupta of some coming person or when they found a secure space for Heracles to do his weird ghost thing and scout the surrounding area.

Yet, they still felt as though they were being watched.

It seemed as if it were the end for them as the day progressed, the safe escape routes became non-existent and even the chancy ones were becoming harder to find! They still hadn't even found a place to hide and even rest for a few hours, men in black seeming to be everywhere.

"Hey you!"

Their luck seemed to have run out.

Sliding down the peak of the roof, they fell onto the fire escape before scrambling down it onto the street, five men in hot pursuit. Then, at the worst possible moment, Gupta stumbled, his foot catching on one of the cobblestones and twisting his ankle.

Worse yet, the other three turned and helped him up, supporting him between Heracles and Sadiq, but doing so also allowed a few precious seconds to tick by so that their pursuers were now directly behind them. When it seemed all was lost though, a 1967 black Chevy Impala roared down the street and came screeching to a halt right in front of them. The passenger door was thrown open a moment later by a young brown man with a red dot on his forehead.

"Get in! Quickly now!"

Looking between the door and the men closing in, it was fairly obvious which choice they picked, the four of them diving into the car, slamming the door behind them. They were not nearly safe yet, police cars and unmarked black cars with tinted windows patrolling the streets, but as they zoomed down the abandoned streets towards city limits, for a moment or two they sure felt like they were.

As they reached the outskirts of Paris, the man looked into the rear-view mirror with warm brown eyes and said "My name is Aadya. Seeing as they were chasing you as well, I thought you were also like me, a mutant."

The four kids who had crammed themselves into the back seat seemed momentarily stunned by the other boy's blunt honesty before Sadiq spoke up for them all, replying with equal honesty. "Yes, they broke into our home last night because of it and we don't know what happened to our two Guardians besides that they stayed behind to give us time... My name is Sadiq, Gupta is to my left, Michelle is to my right and Heracles is beside her."

Aadya gave them a sympathetic smile and replied, "I saw the broadcast and thought that I would no longer be safe either. I skipped a year (having just turned eighteen) and was accepted to study at the university here from India..." He looked at them, appraising, for a moment before he then revealed, "A few weeks ago I discovered I could at first manipulate reflections in mirrors and since then, I've been able to travel through them as well."

Deciding to put the same trust in him in turn, Gupta spoke up "I can sense the dead and talk to them for a year now, recently they have begun to be able to possess me if I give them permission and need to borrow their skills."

After a moments pause, the other three decided to follow suit and explained their own abilities. "I can leave my body behind and wander like a spirit." Heracles explained, "it's been very handy in keeping us out of their hands the past few months."

"Mine's kinda useless," Sadiq said, "If I touch an object I can tell who has touched it, where it has been, where it was made and also sometimes where it  _will_  be. Recently I've also been getting hints about how to use it but that hasn't happened too often."

Michelle was a bit more hesitant but that was more because she still hadn't quite come to terms with everything she'd learned and her own ability showing up over the past two days. "Er, my uncle and his friend were hired as detectives to look into the mysterious disappearances of children worldwide and the case was especially of interest to them when someone tried to kidnap me a few months ago. My...ability really only showed up last night when we were escaping. It's like, if there is a way out, a path to the destination I have in mind, I just know where to go."

Aadya drove for a little longer before he parked the car off in a nearby lot and got out. Shielding his eyes from the sun, he looked in the distance before cursing. "I didn't lose them. C'mon you lot, out you get."

After exchanging confused looks, cautiously they obeyed.

"Now grab hands..."As they did so he continued, "what I'm about to try, I've never done before so I'm not sure if it'll work. However, as they appear to be closing in, I don't think we have a whole lot of choice."

Aadya held out his hand and Gupta hesitated before grabbing it, not sure if he should trust him, but for some odd reason, doing so anyway.

"What are you going to do?"

"Take you into the mirror world," he answered. "Will you trust me?"

All of them thought for only a moment before nodding. He gave a slight smile before he bent down and looked into the side mirror; in a second they all felt a slight tug before the world around them whirled and dissolved.

* * *

Pain.

That had become Francis's entire world.

Each machine beep, each flash of light...just when he thought it couldn't hurt any worse or differently, they proved him wrong.

He couldn't recall the last time he had had a shower, the last time he had slept, the last time he had  _eaten_. His every waking moment, his life had become injections, tests, running, more needles, more tests, more running, each moment worse than the last.

His conscience had retreated to the farthest corners of his mind, his cries and pleas for it to stop long stopped. He hoped Antonio was doing better than him, he hoped that Michelle would run to the ends of this Earth and never fall into their hands, he hoped the other three were repaying him and looking after her. He also hoped Gupta, Sadiq and Heracles were fine but his niece was his only family left alive and if he survived this, her death would kill him.

That was all he could now.

Hope and pray.

A jolt of electricity startled his exhausted mind into attention and once more he began to run.

When he was at last allowed to rest, he was thrown into a new room with Antonio except that this time, they had company.

As he groaned into the floor, gentle hands helped him up and over to a side wall, leaning him against it. A few moments later, he slowly opened his eyes and looked up into a familiar pair of dark concerned eyes.

"You alright amigo?" Antonio asked, staring at horror at him while Francis trying to smile reassuringly.

"How can he be alright? He's here!" Groaned another voice to corner close to the door from behind Antonio. There were two boys there in the corner and Francis watched as one got up and, by bracing and leaning his bound hands against the wall, limped over to where the two of them sat. The boy was albino and had one eye sealed shut from dried blood along with a serious look on his face. "I'm Gilbert, nice to meet you. I'd shake your hand, but..." He shrugged helplessly and Francis tried to draw his eyes away from the kid's broken fingers.

The young teen slouched and flopped back against the wall to slide down it as best he could. "I know but you should see the other guys." he said simply as he caught him staring.

Another teen made his way over slowly, also bloody and bruised to sit with them, "My name is Miguel, who are you?"

Francis, even after dry swallowing for a bit and licking his lips, was unable to summon enough moisture to his mouth to answer. Thankfully Miguel seemed to recognize this and reappeared with a tiny ladle of water, drawn from a bucket on the other side of the room.

"Francis." He at last croaked.

"I'd say nice to meet you but these really are less than ideal circumstances." Miguel answered dryly, rolling over onto his back and gently knocking his head against the concrete. "Also, stop looking so horrified at us, they haven't even gotten started with us yet. Our injuries are from when they mobbed us at the market and then resisted being brought in; they were not pleased when we fought back."

Some part of Francis wanted to slump at relief that at least these kids hadn't been taken away for whatever experiments (read: torture) their captors had in store for them. Other parts wanted to sob that they  _knew_  what was to come and were  _expecting_ it. Looking at the pair, he was sure they also hadn't got a fair shake at life either, just like Gupta, Heracles and Sadiq, their expressions too resigned and jaded for their young faces.

He sighed and looked around their cell properly this time, looking for any detail that might allow them to escape. It was a fairly enormous concrete room with one solid metal door and no window but most of the room was on the other side of this sort of...energy shield? Whatever it was, it looked like something straight out of a science-fiction movie. On the other side was a number of kids heavily bound and it appeared that they were also heavily drugged if their vacant stares and body language was anything to go by. He even recognized a few from their investigations much to his horror; it appeared he was going to have all his questions answered in the worst way possible.

Miguel noticed his observance and said warningly "See the line in the ground? Be careful not to cross it, that little ankle bracelet they slapped on isn't just for decoration. It deals a nasty shock that will knock you out for hours if you do or if you try to mess with it."

Gil snorted, "Right! You both missed the cheery little pep talk the bastards gave us. If you cross the line anyway and somehow remain conscious enough to touch the wall, it'll zap you with enough electricity to stop your heart."

Antonio and Francis stared, not wanting to believe they were telling the truth but knowing it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility for the place.

After a moment, Miguel opened his mouth to say something, hesitated, exchanged a look with Gilbert before he commented, "Both Gil and I were wondering what you and your friend are doing here."

"What do you mean?" Francis looked at him quizzically, it seemed to him that it was pretty obvious that neither of them were here willingly either and Miguel sighed.

"You're too old." He began, "they would have no reason to kidnap you as well. You're both old enough that you shouldn't have been one of the embryos affected by the drug trial."

Drug trial?

What?

Francis felt his eyebrows draw in as he struggled to think past the exhaustion, pain and dehydration. Drug trial? Wait, his sister. Ten years ago, she and her husband had had a lot of trouble with conceiving/having a child and she had mentioned this promising new drug that was going to help. About ten months later, low and behold, their family received an excited phone call at 4am announcing that Michelle was born hale and hearty.

"Was it supposed to reduce miscarriages?" He asked tentatively.

Gilbert nodded, "This Organization had international backing to find a drug to reduce complications to both the mother and infant during pregnancy and birth. Or at least that was the official stance, who knows if that was actually their intent. The program lasted twelve years and the drug was administered yearly to ten volunteers around the world, but it was scrapped when no changes were seen."

"But what does that cause them to start kidnapping children?" Antonio asked as Gilbert trailed off.

"The drug has a long-term side effect, it is proceeded by a high fever and if the individual survives, it shows up as a strange ability..." Miguel took over instead and hesitantly explained. "I can manipulate plants and Gilbert can manipulate technology,  _that's_ why they're after us."

Francis was pale, not only because of the abuse his body had sustained the past few hours but also because the answers to all the questions that had been plaguing him were before him...and they disgusted him.

He licked his lips and slowly answered their previous question, "Antonio and I are Private Investigators, we've been trying to figure out who, why and where children from all over the world have been vanished to." Then noting both boys defensive posture, he thought back a bit and realized they were expecting him to freak out. Well, he was but not for the reasons they seemed to think he'd be. "My niece was nearly kidnapped by men in suits." Before he could continue, he lapsed into a coughing fit and when he could breathe again, Miguel was in front of him holding another cup of water.

"Drink." Miguel said pointedly. "I understand the gist of what happened. Try to rest a little and don't talk."

"We don't know how many of us there are." Gilbert said after a moment. "We know just from the math that there should be at least a hundred and twenty of us but that doesn't count for any multiples births and we also don't many survived the fever or to be adults or this stinking place. Did... did you have many cases?"

Antonio nodded, looking sad. "We know of at least thirty who vanished under similar circumstances."

"Damn." Miguel whispered, horrified.

"Shit." Gilbert swore, before he whispered. "I've overheard the guards and they've had a number of parents drop kids off themselves, wanting nothing to do with the 'freaks' or because of blackmail."

"So we have probably about thirty again from that and they managed to catch eleven of us two days ago. Then assuming a third didn't make it, that leaves less than twenty kids free. To confirm that as best we can, there's about fifteen of us in this cell and I saw another two doors like ours when they dragged us in and assuming that they have the same numbers, there's at least forty-five to fifty other people imprisoned here." He concluded with a sigh.

Miguel and Gilbert looked resigned while Antonio and Francis exchanged horrified looks. They had been here less than forty-eight hours (Francis was pretty sure, though being drugged did mess around with one's sense of time) and had experienced some terrible things; they knew of cases where the child had been disappeared for over seven years. Could that many have even survived?

Miguel stood, drawing them from their thoughts, and brushed off his pants before wandering over to the energy wall, beckoning the two adults over as he did so. 

When they were beside him, Miguel continued. "Gil and I are on this side as our abilities can't work, we're too far away from anything we could use to fight. Can't do anything without at least a living sprout or a circuit board but figured should at least introduce you to the others." He then lowered his voice and turned his head so that it would be difficult to read his lips from any of the hidden cameras. "And that way you know what they can do if you figure out a way out of this hell hole."

He pointed to the boy on the left first, a young brunette with two cowlicks and a band-aid on his nose whose hands and feet were bound with thick iron chains sunk into the concrete and an IV drip seemed to be keeping him unconscious. "That's Steven, he's an animal mimic. He nearly tore the place apart by channelling a Kodiak bear before they were able to sedate him again."

Beside him was an older girl with long brown hair who was bound even more than Steven, her hands and feet manacled together and then thick chains fettered her limbs to the wall and ground and had two IV's poking in exposed skin. "Elizabeta is like the medieval alchemists except she actually  _can_  change one element to another. It seems they think that if she got free that they wouldn't be able to stop her."

He leaned over and whispered conspiratorially with a wink, "Which is true."

None of the others were so badly tied but that didn't make it any better.

The next boy also had brown hair, along with a bit of a snaggle-tooth and red eyes and his hands were chained to the wall while his eyes were open, unseeing, as an IV fed something into his system. "Necolai is able to see glimpses of the future usually just he's asleep and they've been trying to figure out a way to monitor what he's seeing... he told me once that he sees snippets of what  _could_  be but as so much is influenced by choice, so little of it comes true. I hope if they've succeeded he's just showing them those futures, not those of our comrades or anyone else trying to hide from them..."

The next figure he pointed to was a boy with auburn hair who was blindfolded and had a pair of sound-cancelling headphones over his ears while his hands were tied behind him. Judging by how he kept shifting, he was more conscious than the other two but also seemed a bit out of it. "That's Lovino." Francis gave a bit of a start at the name, but didn't say anything. "He can learn anything and retain if it after seeing it or hearing it once. He was on our side of the shield thing before but, well, he's seen plenty of MMA videos and is plenty wily and kept trying to fight his way out so he's over there."

"Next to him is Yong Soo who can move at unbelievable speeds." Miguel continued as he pointed to a young Asian kid feet who was heavily manacled and in a similar state to Lovino though he gave a dazed, goofy grin and tried to wave to Miguel who gave a sad smile and small wave back. "We saw his adopted siblings Yao and Mei Mei get taken down too but they're not here so we think - we hope - they might be in another room. Yao can create portals and Mei Mei can generate poison out of anything."

He gestured to an empty set of manacles and said "Erik was here earlier but they dragged him out hours ago. He can heal all sorts of injuries, he saved my big brother's life a few months ago when his brain was slowly haemorrhaging."

He then pointed to the last boy with mussy sandy blonde hair and thick eyebrows who was the least bound but appeared to be completely insensible and had wires running from all around his head. "Arthur is from England and telekinetic. When they hadn't sedated him, we discovered that if he tried anything, the wires would shock him but he kept trying to anyway. So they came in and drugged him too as they were worried he might irreparably "damage" himself... and keep threatening to the same to idiot over there if he keeps it up."

"Yeah, yeah but I couldn't care less what those nasty pieces of work think of me." Gilbert said, attempting to make a dismissive gesture with his hand before groaning as it wrenched his damaged hand. "If they're going to keep me here against my will, I'm going to keep doing my best to piss them off."

"Six times." Miguel said, exasperated as he shuffled back with Antonio and him. "Sedated six times in three days. If you keep it up, you'll join them in lala land and more than your wrists will be cuffed and than who will I talk to and bother?"

There was unspoken concern and an underlying message  _and then how will we figure out how to get out of here_  in that sentence Francis mused.

Just then, the door opened once more and two men in masks and uniforms came marching in and used the guns they were pointing at them to gesture that they should get down. Once they were all sitting, hands on their heads, a prone body was dragged through. Dropping the figure carelessly on the ground, they then deactivated the field and grabbed Arthur, dragged him out behind them, the field reactivating behind them.

It was only when the door closed again that Miguel and Gilbert dared move.

As the two went over to the figure with trepidation, Francis observed with a practice eye the injuries they had tried to conceal – broken bones, burns, lacerations...he felt rage once more swell within him. It was clear to him that the boys had lied earlier about just simply being injured in a fight, it was evident that a good portion of them had been inflicted after that.

But seconds later that was nothing compared to the fury he felt when saw the child that Gilbert and Miguel carried over to their little corner of the room.

"...Erik." Gilbert whispered quietly as Miguel went to go get the water and ripped his shirt slightly to make a cold compress. "C'mon buddy. You gotta wake up and heal yourself."

There was no inch of skin left untouched and, despite what the pair had told him about Erik healing abilities, Francis felt like he was looking at his last moments.

With the water Miguel patted on his face, Erik stirred a little and with their help, Francis was amazed to see the worst injuries disappear under the boys hands. Not bearing to watch anymore, he stumbled over to where Antonio still hadn't moved and was dismayed that he was feverish and had fallen unconscious.

As he looked over his oldest friend and after all he had seen and heard, he decided to add one more hope to his list.

_He hoped that someone would rescue them soon, he wasn't sure how long any of them would last._

Then, curling up beside him, Francis fell into a fitful slumber as his body attempted to recover.

* * *

"So how are we going to do this then?" Alfred asked once the camera was off, the room erupting into intricate (and largely impossible) plans for revenge.

An hour later, Ludwig stood, slamming his hand against the table to get everyone's attention. "I have a proposal. Let us go about this as we would a siege and wage also guerilla warfare. All of France saw that broadcast and we have to move quickly, we can only hope that they haven't yet transported everyone from the country...Yes Mathias?"

Mathias had tentatively raised his hand and said "They haven't. They're still in Paris. Nicolai walked into my dreams last night; he and the others are being kept under sedatives and he accidentally found me."

Despite being a little irritated at being interrupted, Ludwig let a small grin cross his face before getting serious again. "So, knowing that, that makes it even easier. Let us put more pressure on them and the government by completely cutting them off from the outside world. That way, we isolate them from reinforcements and supplies and turn public opinion more in our favour. Tying in with that, first of all, no matter the task assigned, please make it so there should be no fatalities as long as no one tries anything stupid, okay? We need the public on our side as much as possible and looking like crazed killers is a way to quickly have them against us.

Ludwig then took a deep breath before outlining the beginnings of his plan. "There are four aspects we're going to need to cover. First, we cut off any sort of transport in and out of the city. So, Alfred, I'm afraid it's going to largely fall to you keep the skies clears – make it so windy that no pilot of a plane or helicopter is going to want to even  _try_ to take off. If you could sweep in a storm, more the better. The winds should also roughen waters which should keep any boats in port. Georgi and Týr, I'm going to need you to make all nearby train tracks, bridges and roads completely unusable, understand? Create mountains, crevices and drops, make the roads ice rinks or swamped in snow; doesn't matter how, make it happen. Peter, I'd like you to go with them and strengthen their gifts as much as you can, the more they can do the better. Especially as you'll have to do it from a secluded place, one of the other tunnels even if you think you can."

Kiku interjected when Ludwig paused, the two clearly having planned this as the others screamed their heads off. "That's important. Just in case they have somehow figured out how to track our abilities when we use them if you use your power, do so in another tunnel system or somewhere above ground while being hidden."

Ludwig nodded before continuing. "Second, we need to disrupt communications. Roderich, Mathias, Berwald and Tino, I leave this to you. I want you to take out as many power lines, power stations and satellite towers as possible. How you do this is up to you, just. Take. Them. Down. No computers, no phones, no televisions, no...telegraphs even should be operational. We  _need_ to isolate these assholes."

Kiku took over again. "The third task is the most dangerous, infiltration and the team will be Jackson, Kaoru, Matthew and myself. I can be lookout for any approaching person and glean any information. Kaoru can sneak into any room with his sublimation power, Matthew can become invisible and Jackson can change into anyone. It will be our task to infiltrate any suspect building and to track down wherever the hell they've taken everyone."

"The last task is mine and Feliciano's though anyone from the first two groups is welcome to join us when you finish your tasks. We're going to be distractions and hopefully keep the Organization from seeing any of your movements."

Kiku spoke again, "So to recap: to destroy transportation is Al, Týr, Georgi and Peter, to disrupt communication is Berwald, Roderich, Tino and Mathias, to infiltrate government buildings is Jackson, Kaoru, Matthew and myself and to raise all kinds of hell falls to Feli and Ludwig."

There were nods of agreement and they began to break up, to go get what supplies and the like that they'd need when one of the ceiling decorations flashed brightly and suddenly a few figures appeared, accentuating their sudden arrival with yells as they fell to the ground.

"Er...Hi?" Offered a sheepish looking teen with a red mark on his forehead as the dust settled and saw everyone there in offensive positions, ready to attack if they moved wrong. "We come in peace?"

* * *

**Gilbert's assumptions with the math may or may not be entirely correct ;)**

**Song for this chapter: Wake The White Queen by The Crüxshadows**


	14. Black Black Heart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN – Oh god this story is getting out of hand, as I'm writing things are going in directions I never intended too (damn crazy kids) and the amount of notes and outline I need per chap is doubling. Agh. (at least it isn't yet 10 pages worth of mythology notes)
> 
> Also this story is turning much darker than I had originally intended and while I don't want/intend to write character death, at the moment the plot is slowly evolving towards that. If there is a way that does justice to the story I'm trying to tell then I won't but just thought it fair to tell readers ahead of time that it is now a possibility.
> 
> I do not own Hetalia or anything mentioned in this, just my plot.

 

_RUN COMRADE! THE OLD WORLD IS BEHIND YOU!_

* * *

"We come in peace?"

"Where they hell did you even  _come_  from?" Mathias shouted, confused, freaked out and just a little impressed.

"Er, do you mind telling us where we are before we answer that?" The oldest looking boy answered after a moment, uncertain.

"You're a good few hundred meters underground in Paris," Georgi answered drily while crossing his arms and trying to look imposing. "Mind answering now?"

"Wait a second!" The dark skinned girl with pigtails shouted in surprise before whirling to look at her companions. "They're the ones we saw on TV!"

The four boys stared blankly at her for a moment before realization stole over the features and they noticeably ...relaxed? How odd. Considering their threat earlier, Ludwig was not expecting that.

"In that case," The older boy answered again, "we came out through your... erm, your  _decorative_  mirror fragments? I imagine they're decorative at least; considering their small size and where you've glued them..."

"The ...mirror?" Ludwig repeated before relaxing his guard ever so slightly as he realized what it was that they were alluding to. "So you're like us."

"Yep," answered the teen boy with stubble and a devil-may-care grin. "Shortly after your announcement, Agents came crawling out of the woodwork and were all over the place. Aadya spotted us cornered and rescued us."

"I see," Alfred said slowly. "Would you mind if we verified that? This seems a bit too convenient to me."

"How?" The boy with the keffiyeh asked, narrowing his eyes.

"We've someone here with mind abilities, we'll explain a bit more in detail if you pass."

"Will it hurt?" The sleepy-looking, olive skinned boy asked.

"No." Kaoru answered quickly though gently; not wanting Kiku to give away that he was the one. "Do you agree?"

The boy who'd been called Aadya nodded first and the other four followed suit shortly after. Kiku then closed his eyes and a minute later said, "They're clean as far as I can tell."

At that, it was like an invisible wave passed through the room, washing all the tension out as everyone stood down and relaxed the instincts they had earned over the years.

"I'm a telepath." Kiku broke the silence first. "I can skim the surface thoughts of others, which is how I am able to say that you are not spies and are telling the truth. Do you have a test of your own you'd like to administer?"

After a moment of silent conversation, devil-may-care-grin shook his head and said, "It's fine, we only ask for your promise that you will not actively harm any of us. We will promise the same."

Nods went around the room and Kaoru answered. "That is easy enough to agree to. No harm will come to you here."

"So who are you? What can you do?" Peter shouted excitedly, seemingly unable to contain himself any longer.

Settling themselves in, they all began to talk and soon enough, their plan for the night came up.

* * *

It was only once most were asleep or resting that Aadya drew him out of the room and into the dark corridor, asking to talk to him privately.

"I hope you know what you're doing with this plan of yours." He began once they were far enough away that the sound wouldn't carry back to Bohemia. "Because the risks are enormous."

Ludwig slumped, so he'd noticed. None of the others really had any mind for tactics or strategy and he had hoped that no one would realize the risks and full consequences would be.

"I don't, not really." He admitted quietly, sitting down. "It was the best plan I could come up with. I am aware though that I'm far from an expert."

"I thought so," Aadya said gently as he sat beside him, "Please understand, I am not saying it's a bad plan, I'm wondering if you've really thought it through."

"As far as I can, yes." Ludwig whispered, running fingers through his hair as he did so, a nervous habit of his. "I used all I know for this; everything I could remember from the books on military strategy and history from the library."

"I study politics among other things at the university." Aadya began, "While some may see what we've done as necessary and some will sympathize while hating what was done to us; most will demonize us instead. There will be no peace for us after this."

"I know."

"I'm not certain you do, or at least not for the reasons you do." Aadya responded, not unkindly, but firmly. "Sure people will be annoyed and angry over the inconveniences caused and supporters of this initiative will capitalize on that. However, some of what will be done is much more than an inconvenience. If transport is cut off, some will attempt to get around anyway and will die, emergency services cannot get around and depending how long this lasts, supplies of food and the like will not be able to enter. If the infiltration group is caught in the wrong building, not only will they be labelled as freaks, but as traitors and terrorists!"

Aadya paused and Ludwig nodded wearily, he had thought of that.

"But the worst off will be when the power and communications  are cut ! People will not have any heat and while it is not as bad as winter in Russia, Sweden or Canada, it is cold enough and some will not be prepared. What about the hospitals? Emergency services? Necessary equipment will not be able to run and they will not even be able to receive calls never mind get to where they're needed. All the electric pumps supplying water will not work. We are going to be essentially creating a state of emergency and the  _army_  will undoubtedly be called in. "

"What would you have us do?" Ludwig sighed, leaning back against the wall, miserable. "In this we are nearly already beaten! They have more people, more resources, more everything! All we can do is narrow down the numbers and make everything as difficult for those assholes as possible!...While we're tough and most of us have been doing fighting for the majority of our lives anyway, the slower we are the more time they will have to retaliate, the more time the army will have to arrive and the more time we will have to play the enemy!" He put his head in his hands as he snarled. "We're going to have to _kill_  and do so much more to survive, there can be no going back after this."

"I know all of this." He was now in full-blown rant mode, confiding in the other. "I know that this is likely going to end terribly! I know that the only advantage we have in this besides our abilities is that they will likely try to keep as many of us alive as possible if only for their experiments! I know that even  _if_  we win this 'battle' that we are still likely to lose the 'war'."

"There are going to be casualties." He admitted at last, his voice barely a whisper, allowing Aadya to see that he was scared. "There will be. You know it, I know it. There is no way that any action we try won't, even doing nothing will eventually lead up to us being caught and weaponized. I know that even with what we have planned and the warning we gave, there will be civilians caught up in this and I hope that there will be as few of them and us hurt or killed as possible. But even optimistically, there is no way all of us will get out of this unscathed."

He dry swallowed, his mouth like paper and his stomach cramping as he at last voiced to the dark and to Aadya his biggest fear. "I know that not all of us will come back."

The words seemed to ring, bouncing of the walls, echoing the terrible prediction back at them.

Ludwig curled a little more into himself before continuing. "I don't think anyone else has realized any of this yet, too caught up in anger and plans for revenge or if they have, they've kept it to themselves. I would like to keep it that way, I would shoulder that burden, the knowing if I could, but eventually they will realize if they haven't yet. They will know that we're likely going to our end, but..." He paused for a moment struggling to find the right words.

Could there really be any?

Aadya just looked at him calmly as he thought before he strengthened his voice, putting the steel tone he heard his Uncle Frederick used to use in negotiations, "But I would have us make such an end that cannot be ignored or covered up. That would make our lives, what they  _did_  worthy of remembrance."

"Good," Aadya said once it was clear he had finished, a small smile appearing on his face, "You put as much thought into the consequences as you have your plan. You know, if we survive this, perhaps we can go somewhere where no one will find us and set up our own country. You would make an excellent leader."

"Really?" Ludwig jerked, surprised.

"Yes! You have an excellent mind for planning and strategy," Aadya said before he sighed and put an arm around the other, pulling him close. "I think it's a good plan, in fact it's possibly the best considering everything. I just thought you looked like you needed to talk about it, you were distancing yourself from the others and your brows were always furrowed. You know, they say that a burden shared lightens the load and all that."

Ludwig thought for a moment and realized that, yes, he did feel a little better now that someone else knew what he feared, knew what could happen. Now that he knew that someone else was aware of how everything was balanced on the edge of a knife and how one misstep would destroy everything.

"If it helps any, I think all of us would follow anyway, even young Peter. While the five of us newcomers do not know you (or even one another really) that well, we can recognize our best choice. We know that we do not have much in the way of options and besides, it has a certain appeal to it. Going out fighting, in glory, yeah?"

"Yeah." Ludwig breathed, something inside seeming to click and settle, allowing that knot inside to relax. He had made his choices, the others were making theirs; now all that was left to follow through on it. "Yeah. After all,  _better to live or die, once and for all , than die by inches._"

Aadya got up and offered a hand before beginning to quote dramatically back. " _So now I meet my doom. Well let me die: but not without struggle, not without glory, no, in some great clash of arms that even men to come will hear of down the years!"_

"So this is where the pair of you have gotten to," Matthew said, startling them both as he appeared around the bend. "Having a morbid quote off?"

"No." Ludwig replied, smiling sadly. "Aadya was just offering his ear. He noticed I was stressing about things I couldn't control and invited me to rant."

"Ah," Matthew said knowingly before turning around. "C'mon, sun's down and it's almost time."

"Right."

As the trio headed back, Ludwig started a bit when Matthew put a hand on his shoulder and leaned close to whisper. "Stop worrying Ludwig. We have made our choices and we know very well where they may lead.  _All stories, if continued far enough, end in death, and he is no true-story teller who would keep that from you_."

"Hey," He said after a moment, "now who is being morbid?"

Alfred, leaning out the cave door gave a theatrical groan as they got closer, "Please tell me you aren't swapping black humour jokes."

"Only kind of humour to have." Matthew answered blandly as he walked past, clearly this conversation was old hat. "...Life's a grave, dig it."

"God damn it Matt." Al sighed, "Really? Of all the puns..."

* * *

Arthur groaned as he was dragged along, the world swam in a swirl of greys with colours slowly leaking back with each blink. Fuck, what had they  _given_ him? Actually, nevermind that, he thought as he was jerked around another corner and his ears roared and the world nearly faded out again, how  _much_ had they given him?

He felt like he was going to be sick, but his body didn't really even have the energy to do that.

_This was very not good._

Especially as he'd been seeing a floating green bunny for the last few turns he was dragged around.

Well, this blew. Arthur did his best to think past the fog in his brain, past the headache and the drugs, what day was it? He needed to get out of here soon, Peter's birthday was coming up and the little brat was going to eight. He couldn't miss that.

He refused to miss that.

As they rounded another corner and the nausea swelled again, Arthur gave a tricky grin and managed to get sick on the guard manhandling him on the left and was rewarded with a curse.

Ha, victory! He might not be able to do anything at the moment, but he could at least still piss them off and show them that he wasn't going to co-operate, cause fuck that noise.

In fact that was Rule 21.

Granted those rules were for Peter, but still the principle of the matter remained,  _"If you ever do get caught by an enemy, make yourself as big a nuisance as possible without crossing the line (so they won't contemplate killing you instead of using you as leverage) and remember we will come for you."_ applied. Just, he would have to free himself before he could come for his brother, to make sure he was safe.

"Oops." He slurred before earning a cuff around the head and oh, the world was fuzzy again and would that flying rabbit kindly get lost already? Seriously, he did not want to deal with any floating mint-green Leporidae today or any day for that matter.

Lost in his thoughts or maybe on the edge of unconsciousness, he was surprised when he felt himself airborne before he hit the ground.

"Arthur?" A familiar voice asked before gentle hands rolled him over and began to check his vitals. "Christ man, you're doped to the gills aren't you?"

Arthur grabbed one of the hands and held it close to his face, he recognized the scars on that palm. Dropping it, he then attempted to get the world to focus a bit more and felt his face split in a wide grin.

"Lars! Cor but's good to see you."

When Lars and Bel had vanished, Arthur had been terrified and upon escaping to Bohemia, that fear hadn't changed. He'd frequently bother Necolai if he'd seen hints of them in any of his future dreams and would go looking for information some days, even knowing it was likely the Organization that had snapped them up.

He struggled to sit up before giving it up as a bad job and just pulling the other down so he could give him a hug. Lars, thankfully, didn't seem to mind and upon realizing what it was he wanted, leaned back and dragged him with him, holding him close.

"Arthur, you know you never told me you were a cuddler." Oh, there was the sass. Why had he worried about the ass again? Maybe because he was humouring him, or maybe, he thought as Lars held him just as tightly as Arthur wanted to hold him back because he had been just as worried.

"If you ever tell anyone, I will call you a dirty, dirty liar." He threatened cheerfully into Lars's shoulder. "And then will tell them that you sing ABBA in the shower."

"Is he alright?" Asked a new voice, a young girl from the sound of things.

"Probably?" Lars answered over his head. "I don't think they overdosed him Lily, he's just never taken any medication well... Though, Art, why'd they dose you so high?"

Arthur leaned his back to look at the girl upside down, she was a cute little thing. Probably about ten years old in a green jump suit, her blonde hair in bob cut; in a few years, he was sure she'd be a very attractive lady. Oh, she looked worried, fuck, he didn't like to worry kids and tried to get his face to co-operate and give a reassuring grin.

She didn't look reassured. Damn.

"Arthur?"

Right he'd been asked something.

"I wouldn't stop." He waggled his fingers a bit. "S's gonna be Peter's birthday soon, need to get out, need to...can't leave him. Wouldn't stop. They'd zap me but f-" Kid in the room, right. "but to hell with that noise. So decided I was better off not-concio, un-consic...erm not awake."

Look at him being a positive role model, no cursing! Somewhere, he was sure his mother was proud.

"Ah. Well you're in for it now," Lars said dryly. "This is where they bring you to detox before you get sent out to one of the training rooms to be shown off or fight someone else. You'll be able to use your ability soon mate. but if you do, the floor's electrified enough that it'll knock  _you_  out instantly. And then they'll gas the room to be sure. So let's not try that, yeah?"

Arthur thought, analysing what it was Lars just said. That kinda talk was unlike him and turning his head to focus around the room, he got what the teen was trying to tell him. The room was set to knock out someone of his and Lars size and age (late teens), the two other kids in the corner couldn't be more than nine and Lily didn't look like she could take a shock like that either, never mind an adult sized dose of whatever was in the gas.

 _Damn, damn and thrice damn_ , he censored in his head and flopped his head back to lean fully on Lars again.  _This just gets better and better._

 _Oh, and there was that too._ "Um, Lars? Think I'm gonna be sick again."

* * *

Antonio and Francis had been dragged off again to what appeared to be a pristine hospital operating room. Antonio knew better, he could see the hidden straps waiting to hold them down, knew the needles and scalpels that were lying in wait, knew that atrocities had happened here, the air stinking of bleach and blood.

Time seemed to blur as they tore into him, as chemicals began running through his veins and his body was being turned inside out and caught on fire. Every sound seemed to amplify so that exclamations of 'failure' and scribbling noises were like shouts, the person screaming (was that him?) seemed as loud as a hurricane's winds and over it all he could hear Francis's cries for them to stop, that they were killing him, didn't they see?

They didn't stop and Antonio screamed.

* * *

"Is everyone ready?" Ludwig asked, giving everyone one more look over and saw determination on all the faces looking back. "Very well, then... Just in case, it was nice to have known you all and best of luck to everyone. Let's go get our families back and raise some hell!"

There were shouts of agreement and then, at that, they all vanished into the labyrinth of tunnels below Paris, ready and eager to start their war.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, darker.
> 
> Song for this chapter is Black Black Heart by David Usher
> 
> The two quotes in here, Ludwig and Aadya's lines are from Homer's the Illiad and the Matthew's is from Death in the Afternoon by Hemingway
> 
> Arthur is one of my favourite characters to write as his perspective is always a little unhinged, AU or not. He cares but prefers not to show it and always has a reason for what he does (though how reasonable his reasoning is can vary) and yeah. Arthur!
> 
> Please Review!


	15. Run This Town

**AN- Updates are going to be more sporadic than usual as heading into deadline/exam season, sorry.**

**I don't own Hetalia.**

* * *

_Humpty Dumpty was pushed_

* * *

It...itched.

No.

Not quite an itch.

It was an itchiness of a few thousand mosquito bites, of wearing a cheap wool sweater after scrubbing yourself clean and of ants biting and climbing all over your skin.

An itch didn't quite describe the burn that followed.

Burning flame that danced and advanced along his skin.

Consuming him.

It burned, hurt.

Wanted it to stop.

Wanted to stop.

To Stop.

Stop!

There was nothing but agony left now.

Rough hands grabbed him, dragged him along but he was so lost in pain that he couldn't even bring himself to flinch or make a sound. They then dropped him in – canvas? Was that canvas? The fabric was rough but at this point silk would probably feel like sandpaper...Realizing he had gotten lost in thought and that they were moving again, he blearily attempted to open his eyes but was met only with darkness.

Above the roar in his ears, he could hear grumbling from his handlers but not what they were saying. Would they help him or just throw him back in the cell? Why had they...swaddled him in whatever this was to carry him?

Effectively blinded, he was surprised when he was able to tell that they were outside now and, he, he was airborne now?

He then hit cold water and, ah, that was better! That was better than better actually, that was fantastic! Wondrous perfection even! The cool water closed over his head, soothingly giving his body the relief it needed. He could breathe again, the fire on his skin was gone!

Even better, now that the pain wasn't overtaking all of his senses, he could think again and... wait. He should probably be panicking not be relieved, or rather, he should be drowning not be fine. What the hell?

* * *

They had decided to set up camp in the nearly completely blocked off tunnels in the North, going through some of the ICG tunnels before they reached the point where there were no more passages for them to go through. Georgi then used his ability to create a small tunnel that lead to the banks of the river Seine (closing it behind them of course), then a small encove for them to stand in and finally, he pushed apart some of stonework on the over side allowing them to see the walkways on either side of the river, the Seine itself along with parts of the roads and a bridge above.

They had even gotten lucky and ended up near one of the street lights that illuminated the paths.

Alfred took a steadying breath while Georgi and Týr looked outside and Heracles sat down before slumping against the wall. Al shivered, it did look like his spirit had just up and left, leaving his body behind like a husk...He then mentally chided himself for letting his fears get the better of him again, he had gotten used to the ossuaries and Heracles was just leaving to take watch... Albeit in an odd way...er, but very practical! No one would be able to sneak up on them as his spirit form easily able to pass through the rock and see if anyone was coming for them.  _Regardless,_ he then thought even as he shivered and tried to will away his goosebumps,  _Heracles was_ _ **not**_ _a ghost_. It was fine.

Besides, he had bigger things to think about.

As if on cue, Peter popped up beside him and grimly offered his hand and Al shook himself and nodded. He didn't take the offered hand though and instead sat down and gestured the other to put his hands on his shoulders; he would be needing his hands.

Next he looked inward for where his gift lay and drew on it, before allowing his mind to be called away on passing zephyrs. The wind sang to him as it tugged him; sending him passing over Reims then Troyes before he found the storm he was looking for Vézelay. It took all his will and strength as he clenched his hands and  _pulled_ , getting the southern-bound headwind to turn around and pull the heavy, dark clouds they needed with it. He then called some north-bound winds from near Lyon with a flick of his hand and sent them after, to make the clouds move faster so that in about an hour it would be bearing down on Paris.

It was only the first week of March and a bit early for a spectacular thunderstorm but he was still pleased to find a storm of that size relatively close by; it was still a good start.

He jumped back into the jetstream and went to the coast, absently twisting some of the easterlies he came at La Rochelle across into a gale and sending it north to Paris. The sea was nice, he decided as he got there and felt the breezes there dance around him. But he didn't need breezes though so he went a bit farther north and found some mistrals and strong winds there and, even better, they carried cold, Arctic air. Using his gift to strengthen them, he then pulled them with him back to Paris where just the beginning of the storm was arriving. Clenching his teeth, he threw out a hand and began to speed the air everywhere in the city up and wove himself a windstorm before tossing in the cold winds in with the comparatively warmer ones up in the clouds growing the storm.

He then narrowed his focus, 'returning' to his body and signalled Peter to let go, to go help Georgi and Týr. Feeling the small hands leave his shoulders, he briefly mourning the loss of his ability to feel all the air currents in the country before focusing on what he was brewing here. He smiled in grim satisfaction as the winds roughened the waters of all nearby rivers so no boats would leave the city and the skies turned nasty, unleashing gales freezing rain (he sensed Týr's hand in that, it should've only been rain) and howling winds.

He fed his anger into his workings; pulling and twisting until the winds screamed his fury at the world, drew on his fear as he focused on the winds blowing at ground level so that they pushed, pulled and snapped at anyone they came across and growled his rage as he made sure that the winds near any airports were more whirlwinds than anything else. He snarled as the headwind tried to turn away again, trying to return to its natural course and reigned it in, catching some passing winds from the jetstream overhead and feeding them to it.

He was tempted to cackle as he drew back to observe what he had wrought but that would ruin his concentration so instead settled for a toothy, shark-like smile and gently rubbing the ring on his left pinky finger.

* * *

Gupta moved as stealthily as he could from shadow to shadow, watching his new comrades do the same. His experienced eyes were able to pick them out but he was sure that unless a light suddenly turned on that no one else would see them; it was evident they had all had experience in having to hide. Soon enough, they had managed to get to the radio tower and hopped the fence as discussed before, he asked some of the spirits nearby to keep watch and turned to scan the darkness himself along with Roderich as the others got to work.

Berwald found the electrical box on the side of the building and overloaded it as Mathias collapsed the support struts of the towers by increasing his weight.

They then took off for the next one, breaking/taking down the occasional telephone and electrical wires they came across as they did so (it wouldn't do to leave a clear path for any pursuers to pick up after all). Tino disintegrated any wooden poles and branches nearby (so they'd fall on the wires), Berwald overloaded any circuits, Mathias would break what he could through sheer weight while Gupta and Roderich mostly stood guard.

They were about halfway done when they ran into their first problem when a surprised security guard happened to stumble on them before they'd done anything. As he reached for his radio, Roderich had flung out a hand and the man had made a chocked sound before looking up at them, terrified, when he realized they had stolen his voice. Before he could panic though, Gupta knocked him out with a flying kick.

As they ran towards the main hydro plant, Gupta shivered as he felt a light rain begin to pick up and the wind picked up. They would need to hurry so they wouldn't also be slowed or stopped by the bad weather that the first group was creating.

They ran faster into the darkened night.

* * *

It was only once they had passed what remained of an old WWII French Resistance hideout and were again in a more secluded tunnel, Matthew stopped them all and pulled a small flask from his pocket along with six little ketchup cups. "Now, I know this isn't the best time but there won't be a better." Then he emptied what remained, just a bit of whatever was in the flask into each cup and gestured for everyone to take one.

Al had given it to him shortly before they left, after they had had a farewell toast of their own. Matt's hand clenched, missing the familiar feel of the ring that usually sat on his pinkie and instead went in his pocket to thumb the flame of liberty keychain Al had given him in turn. With the change in possessions came the promise that whatever happened, they would get Miguel out and survive even if the other did not.

Looking around the circle in the soft light he was creating, he made eye contact with everyone and gave a sad smile. "As I'm sure you all know, our job is the most dangerous and there is a high chance that the worst of what will happen tonight will fall on us. Despite your age, your abilities have got you stuck with me and this task... " When he received nods, he felt a momentary surge of sorrow for how disillusioned they were for a bunch of kids. "Therefore, I thought of Al and my little tradition where before a tough fight we would have  _just a bit_ of what we could get our hands on and I thought, that all things considered, some 'liquid courage' couldn't go amiss tonight. So..." He trailed off before whispering, "it's been great knowing you, watch each other's backs and, fate willing, I hope you all manage to see the dawn."

He swallowed before he raised his 'glass' in toast, "Here's to never growing up."

Matt heard the toast echoed around the circle as everyone knocked the little bit of alcohol back and they then all coughed at the burn (ah to be young again) knowing they had all known what he had meant. Their childhoods had all been stolen and they all knew that they would never be 'proper' adults just as they knew that there was a chance that after tonight, they might never have the chance to grow up at all and this would instead be their last night on Earth. The toast had been both a lament for what they had and could lose and a promise that if they did survive that they would reclaim what had been lost to them.

"Let's go kick some ass." He said standing, leaving the flask and cup behind, just another bit of fallen history.

* * *

"So how are we going to go about this?" Feli asked Ludwig, curious from where they were perched on the top of the Palais Garnier Opera house.

"Well," Ludwig said, smirking slightly as they saw a section of lights in the distance suddenly go out, "I thought we could go the more traditional route and help Group One's goal while also being distracting."

"Blockades?" Aadya asked semi-seriously. "Cannons and Gunfire? Are we going to storm the Bastille? Versailles? Or go more modern and pry up cobblestones and throw them at the police and set cars on fire? "

"Barricades." Ludwig confirmed, "After all, you know half a century ago, they said that  _barricades close the street but open the way_... Along with the strangest things guarding them."

"Oh?" Feli asked, lips quirking as he began to catch on to what they were thinking. "And what would that be?"

"Greek Sculptures." Ludwig began, "Dinosaur bones, bronze statues, mannequins modelling all kinds of uniforms...Going to go parks and monuments and then with Aadya's help, should be able to get into museums and get all of those things moving. I'll leave any actual human remains alone so no mummies as that just seems disrespectful but..."

Feli groaned and put his head in his hands, "And damaging those masterpieces is not? Anyone who has any appreciation for art will cry for our heads! Though... that does seem a good idea, no way just three people could block the streets alone."

Ludwig nodded before continuing, "And anything else you can dream up and add on. Between the three of us we should be able to block all the main roads with cars and defend them. If nothing else, the image of teenagers riding around on a T-Rex will certainly be distracting."

"Well, I'll add onto your theme," Feli then said, "though try to be as quick as you can. I can't really make anything I saw solid, I can only make it look like they are. It's good that it's late, the less cars on the road, the longer I can hold off without anyone realizing."

With decisive nods, they separated; Feli climbed higher to get a better vantage point from where he could then see all the roads and Ludwig offered his arm to Aadya who then drew them both into the mirror world.

 _It was very odd here_ , he thought as he followed Aadya through a white world. There wasn't any ground he could see yet he was walking on some and there were shards of mirror and glass everywhere. They moved quickly until they came to one that Aadya believed was to the Louvre and they both stepped through.

* * *

Arthur leaned up against the wall, still feeling slightly dazed but his stomach was no longer actively rebelling. Always a plus.

As he'd struggled to push past his nausea, he'd been introduced to the other three sharing their cell. Besides Lars and Lily, there were two eight year olds, Kathleen from Northern Ireland who could manipulate the weather and Youssef from Algeria who could generate force fields and there was also a shy thirteen year old he hadn't spotted, Dani from the Honduras who had a camouflage ability.

They were pretty sweet kids though defensive. Lars told him that it was rare that you would be made to fight anyone who shared a holding cell with you but that it had happened and when you're getting in a potential life-or-death fight, giving as little information as possible was sensible. They had only volunteered that little bit as both Youssef and Dani had barely any control over their ability and they hadn't so much as  _volunteered_  what their ability was as they  _demonstrated_ it. Kathleen spoke up only after he'd given the smallest of outlines of his own ability as did Lily.

Arthur loved fighting, it was an area that he thrived in, he was what you could call a natural. Blade, gun or fists; it didn't matter. It was like his body instinctively knew where to move, like he had always known. But these were  _kids_  that was one line he was always hesitant to cross (unless they were trying to kill him, then it didn't matter) and it seemed hardly fair if he were to be paired up with them as he was older and had ten times the control.

It was always the last rule he had given Peter:

_Rule 23: Though, to contradict myself a bit, don't ever forget where we came from Peter. Help others when you can and a little mercy can sometimes gain you the staunchest of allies. You're a smart kid, I'm sure you'll use your best judgement._

He knew Lars knew exactly what he was thinking and the amused/resigned look he got when he began to suggest tips made him a bit wistful for their days in the Lost. Things kinda sucked then too but at least they had some control over their lives and anyone gunning for them wasn't doing it because they were forced to. So, he gave Dani and Youssef advice that he had seen both Roderich and Matthew use in controlling their gifts and Kathleen advice that he'd heard muttering about. When Lily shyly showed her ability to turn kinetic force into  _explosives blasts_ , Arthur had almost fallen in love for a minute (though not cause she was still a tiny munchkin). Because that was awesome, even the stupid floating bunny thought so... For her he suggested some of the exercises that he and Tino had both used to gain a bit of fine control.

"Taking more ducklings under your wing?" Lars asked amused. "You mother  _hen_."

"I prefer to think of them as attack wolves." Arthur responded airily. "All they need is a little fine tuning and a nudge in the right direction. I'm not mother henning, I'm  _training_  them."

Before Lars could respond, what could only be described as a warning shock zapped them from the embedded coils and the door opened, guarded by four gunmen.

They were then ordered to get down and put their hands on their heads and Arthur grudgingly obeyed not wanting to have one of the kidlets shot to get him to, though he supposed he also would rather not get shot; it kinda sucked.

They were then cuffed uncomfortably, the bindings keeping their hands behind their heads while also keeping them from looking up. Arthur started when an electric was snapped in place around his neck; he hadn't even heard someone approach him from behind! Once they were all cuffed and collared, they were made to get up and were prodded along at gunpoint before being herded through separate doors. Once inside and the door 'snicked' shut, firmly closed and locked, Arthur's cuffs fell off though the collar remained.

Rubbing his wrists, he looked around the bare room, examining and mentally cataloguing anything of interest. Not that there was much.

_Rule 6. Know your exits and how to best get to each of them_

It was quite large, ovular and the walls and ceiling were made of some unidentifiable substance...it wasn't metal, drywall, wood or concrete whatever it was and there were hidden panels all around that he could just barely make out the seams for. One or two might actually be vents but they were too high up for him to get a better look. There was the door he had just come through and the one on the other side but that was it for easily accessed exit points. The floor was solid and made of concrete and the walls were high while part of it on his right was made of plexiglass or maybe just glass and was clearly a viewing area. Bastards.

He shifted uncomfortably, there wasn't much here he could work with and they had stripped him of everything useful when he was caught. He felt practically naked without his knives, picks and gun! He had his ability to defend himself but he did not like being out in the open like this and without his weapons of choice, especially as there were only two doors out and they certainly would not be easy to get out of.

Not knowing what else to do, he shifted closer to the side and began to stretch, keeping an eye on each door, not wanting to be taken by surprise.

A minute or so later, the far door was opened and an older girl was shoved in. She was tall with pale blonde hair (the kind that was nearly white) in a bob cut and her curvy figure filled out the thin brown linen shirt and pants they had all been made to wear. Looking at the muscles on her and how she held herself, she was a fighter but looking at her face, Arthur knew instinctively that he was in trouble.

Her eyes.

Her eyes were dead.

He didn't want to think about how long she had been here or what had been done to her for her eyes to look so lifeless.

A voice crackled over the speakers, announcing "This is a test between subject 004 and 082. You will fight until the other subject is unconscious, death blows are prohibited.  _Fight._ "

Fuck.

* * *

**Song for this Chapter: _Run This Town_  by Jay Z**


	16. Beds Are Burning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Warning****Warning***Warning** , somewhat more detailed violence than ever intended and I couldn't get through this without character death. Though with the one in question is kind of a comic book death. But yeah, events just didn't work otherwise (for this chap or future ones), my apologies. THIS IS YOUR PROMISED HEADS UP.
> 
> In case it wasn't clear, some of the events in the chapters are not happening simultaneously but are within a few days of each other. This isn't super important but something to keep in mind.

_In a society that has abolished every kind of adventure, the only adventure that remains is to abolish society_

* * *

_This was not right._

_She looked down at the machine's results again._

_No, this was very, very wrong._

_Looking back at past meetings, on heated whispered conversations partially overheard and all the present data, she reached a terrible conclusion. With shaking hands she shut down her station and gathered up her things and plastered on a fake smile as she left the building._

_She believed herself a realist and knew that regardless of whether or not the drug was an effective treatment, that the only information that would soon be important were the mutations they were starting to see in samples taken from some of the children still in the program. She knew that her fellow scientists were more absorbed in the science and were not seeing price of the knowledge but were more seeing wondrous advancement at little cost._

_Perhaps the reason she thought differently was that her sister had signed up as an anonymous recipient (as most did choose to omit their name for some reason or another) and now had her precious, precocious seven year old nephew. If the data ran true, he along with one hundred twenty-four other children would be turned into experiments and curiosities or even weapons._

_She was not okay leaving that behind as a legacy._

_She confided first in her sister then in their husbands and was relieved that she had not misjudged either man when they steeled themselves and helped her plan._

_There was only two facilities, the one she worked in Reims and the one on the outskirts of Paris making it easy enough to ensure that the formula would not survive. The plan was that she and her husband would rig her building with makeshift explosives (set to go off simultaneously with the ones they were going to plant in Paris) and a time-delayed virus in the computers so all data and samples there would be destroyed. Then her twin sister would go in her place for a presentation she had at the main building, discretely upload the virus again and then, when she was receiving a formal tour of the facility have her husband discretely place similar explosives in and around the lab area._

_Their plan went well up until the device in her briefcase detonated prematurely, setting off the ones they had managed to sneak in the day before in a domino effect. As the world exploded all around her and she hit the ground; she could only hope that all the scientists with the knowledge on how to create the serum had been caught in the blast here and in Paris and that her husband had managed to get back out in time. She hoped that her twin and her husband were safe as well and were going into hiding with little Yong Soo._

_Then she knew no more._

* * *

Arthur stared warily at the other teen, waiting for her to make the first move. While this was normally not his style, he felt it prudent considering he didn't know what she could do.

And he wasn't disappointed.

He saw just her pinky twitch and felt his body jerk forward. Instinctively he threw out his hand and used his telekinesis to blast her away from him but even as she flew into the wall, he felt his body be yanked forward and it was only once she slammed into it with a resounding crack that he was fully in control of himself again.

Now Arthur was no slouch in the brains department and even as the stupid floating bunny shouted useless suggestions, his mind raced to figure out what her ability was so he could counter it. Right, so she could somehow control his body but, it hadn't really felt like she was moving his body... but war instead  _manipulating_  something else. It wasn't like she made his  _muscles_  move on their own but like she  _pulled_ something and that was what yanked his body forward...

His blood?

Could she manipulate blood?

Well, if that was the case, he just had to keep her from using her ability at all. Only a second or two had passed for him to reach this conclusion and he was already moving forward as she got to her feet, slightly dazed.

Before she could raise a hand, he hit her in the jaw, hoping to knock her out but instead she rolled with it and delivered a sharp snap-kick to his abdomen and as his body automatically curled in, she grabbed his head and slammed it down on her knee. Even as he felt his nose break, Arthur got his hands up and threw her and followed her down. They grappled for a moment before she got a hand up, clenched it then rapidly unclenched it, splaying her fingers.

Yep, her ability allowed her to manipulate his blood.

He was now staring cross-eyed down a blade made out of the blood from his broken nose, and he used his telekinesis to yank himself backwards even as it came down. Before she could regroup, his left hand gripped his right bicep and he punched his right arm up in a sort of curl; sending her flying upward into the ceiling and letting her drop.

The panels on the side let out a whirring sound and about eight heavy metal balls fell from them to the ground. Arthur, already on his guard, tensed further, eyes darting around to identify all the new additions.

Now what were they playing at?

It was only his instincts that kept him from dying as the small cannonball rocketed towards his head. Both hands now up, they were trapped in a contest of wills as he locked eyes with the bloodied girl both of them concentrating on getting the ball to move where they wanted.

He mentally cursed as he realized that she could control  _iron_ not blood.

Realizing that the ball was slowly but steadily moving forward he dropped to the ground as he let go of the ball and sent one of the others flying towards the girl. Even as she dodged it, she got the ball to reverse the course and tried to get it to slam into his head, each time making a crater in the ground as he rolled out of its path. Realizing he would soon be at the wall, when he was in the push up position in the roll, he pushed off the ground and used his ability to float.

Flying was a tricky business, one he had not yet mastered but beggars cannot be choosers and he was soon using his superior (though shaky) manoeuvrability to dodge her attacks. She kept trying to yank him down through his blood but he was able to use his gift to keep himself right where he was and earned a shout of frustration as a result. Though, as it took everything he had to remain aloft and so couldn't attack in return, he knew the stalemate wouldn't last.

So he feinted to the left, then made to look like he overshot the next time she launched a cannon ball at him and then cut off his ability so he dropped right on top of her. Then, before she could recover, he rolled off her and jabbed a few pressure points and she slumped into unconsciousness.

Once he was sure she was out, he staggered to his feet, bloodied and bruised before he reset his nose. Then, picking up one of the deadly iron balls with his gift, he then proceeded to launch it at the observation window with a snarl. While it didn't go all the way through, it did lodge itself in the glass, much to Arthur's delight.

"Why don't you come down here and fight me yourself you god-damn low lives!" He sneered.

* * *

Týr had never felt like this before.

This must be what happiness felt like, what ecstasy felt like, what  _freedom_ felt like.

Before when he'd used his ability it had been to stay alive, had been forced to in an experiment or to protect himself in a fight. It had gotten to the point where he associated the cold and ice with nothing but pain and fear.

But this.

This was nothing like that.

He and Georgi's hands were clasped and they were sitting cross-legged across from one another and Peter's hands rested on their shoulders. It felt incredible as they let Alfred's winds 'draw' them out of their bodies and push them along as they carefully cut off the roads one by one. They would wait for a gap in the cars (though they didn't wait for the bigger transport trucks they couldn't see in, just in case) before covering it in ice and breaking it up; making it look like an earthquake happened. For the major highways, they created these cutoffs so there'd be road and then there wasn't, the road falling into a crevice or a drop or Týr would bury it in so much snow it would be impassable.

He couldn't help but quietly laugh in delight as the snow and ice came easier, as wintery gusts spread the delicate little flakes further and further. Once they were sure that all the roads out of the city were impassable for now, Georgi focused on making it worse while Týr went after the waterways. He flew over the river in his mind and lowered a hand into it, the water freezing in his wake and leaving ice decimetres thick behind.

As he went back to where he could sense Al and Georgi at work, he was surprised and enthralled as he "saw" Ludwig and Aadya on the back of a woolly mammoth moving down the street. Checking his energy, he felt well enough to help with their efforts and together they improved their barricades, leaving raised earth and spikes of ice behind. Hearing Feli laugh, pleased and seeing Ludwig's grimly satisfied grin bolster him, he assisted as best he could until pretty much the entire city was covered in ice and snow as illusions and statues and so much else ran around.

Then, exhausted, he retreated back to his body and felt Georgi do the same. They then caught Peter as the boy just about collapsed onto them, just as drained as them. Georgi helped Peter over to where Heracles 'slept' before he then returned to help him over to the wall where Al was already slumped and shared a tired smile. Both he and Alfred would have to take turns being awake as while Georgi's actions were permanent both the storm Alfred had whipped up and the snow and ice on the ground were not natural and if left untended for too long would go back to their natural course.

So while Peter slept and Heracles kept watch (he had reassured them that it didn't take much energy to maintain and could do it for a full twenty-four without rest if necessary) now Týr and Alfred would take turns sleeping and Georgi would ensure that one would remain awake and the other didn't sleep for more than twenty minutes before trading off.

They could no more for now and just hope that what they had done was enough.

* * *

And that crossed another facility off their list. The six of them hunkered down in the shadow, their well worn map just barely illuminated by Jackson's flashlight.

They had circled any buildings that were big enough to possibly hide a secret institution and had had any construction done on it or nearby in the last eight years in case of it being underground. It was hardly a perfect system but it was that or search house by house by building. Already they had gone through eight and found nothing. So far, so good; especially as they hadn't been seen yet (though there was a bit of a close call with a guard dog).

As more lights went out and a gust of wind blew more snow at them, a collective shiver ran through their circle though grins were exchanged as they knew their friends were working hard.

Matt pointed first to the next three buildings they would hit and then the next rendez-vous point; everyone nodding acknowledgement, they scattered off in pairs once more into the night.

* * *

Everything had gone well up until they were at the last facility on their list, one that provided power to a majority of the city.

To start with, they hadn't seen the camera.

Then, as the guards were not oblivious to the fact that radio was down, as was all cell towers and the rest of the power plants, they were approached with caution and had called the police. So there was no easy take down as the guards were sheltering behind walls and shouting for their surrender.

Worst off was that they were a bit too far away from any part of the building that they could damage and so finish their part of the mission before being captured.

Not having much else in the way of options, Mathias increased his mass and punched the wall; simultaneously breaking both the concrete blocks and hurting his hand. They then broke cover and dashed through the small hole into another part of the facility.

They were now wrecking things as they tried to find a way out and playing cat and mouse with the guardsmen and newly-arrived policemen. The cops who were now shooting at them.

And fair enough, at this point they were kind of committing terrorist acts but Gupta couldn't help but feel a bit victimized considering they were just trying to get their family back. Especially once Roderich got grazed by one in his shoulder.

Mathias broke the next wall (and his hand for certain this time) and, to their relief, it was an outside wall. Hearing angry shouts behind them, they dashed outside before having to blink back temporary blindness as spotlights were turned on; obnoxious background generators running in the background hinted at how they were working considering they just about levelled the last power generating building in their haste to get out.

Shit.

Looking around, they could see cars blocking any exit (though Gupta was thrilled to see a sneaky civilian in her apartment filming what was happening with her phone) causing them to go back to back, waiting for the first attack. Tino tugged his gloves off with his teeth and had his bare hands up and at the ready, Berwald rolled his neck and assumed a similar position after pushing both him and Mathias behind him so they were in the centre and Roderich grimaced though looked just as ready to fight.

However, it wasn't cops that came but four kids in black uniforms with collars at their throats gradually eased their way through the blockade.

Tino let out a small sound of horror and his eyes widened.

"Hanya? Feliks? Marcello? What are you doing here?"

No answer was given and Roderich quickly asked "You know them?"

"I did." Tino answered at equal volume, not even trying to be quiet. "They vanished a year ago, some of the first snatched after coming into hiding with us along with a few others. Don't know the last one."

"Abilities?"

"The nine year old blonde is Feliks and he can manipulate cloth, the seven year old brunette boy is Marcello who can become intangible and the seven year old brunette girl is Hanya who can make her drawings become reality."

"Hostile?"

"Almost certainly. I've never seen Feliks in clothing lacking colour and the two kids were forever smiling."

A sharp command come from the behind the cars. "012! Use your strength and scatter them!"

The one that Tino didn't know was a wiry, eighteen year old boy with curly brown hair who could move a lot faster than you'd think. Roderich had to quickly dodge to avoid his fist and Mathias just barely got his arms crossed in front of his face to block him and was pushed back about two meters as a result. "This one's super strong!" He grunted out before having to dodge a haymaker aimed at his abdomen.

Gupta had also dodged at the same time as Roderich and was somewhat delighted when he looked around again and saw a series of ghosts watching. They were near the Père Lachaise Cemetery and apparently some of its famous inhabitants were bored enough to come watch. Seeing Berwald go to Mathias's aid, Gupta quickly got the attention of the most warlike near him.

"Louis Nicolas Davout, maréchal de fer d'Empire?" He asked quickly, fairly sure he recognized him. When the ghost gave a regal nod, he then asked "Are you comfortable fighting in a scrap like this? Because I do not know how to fight proficiently and can allow you to possess me if you are willing to assist."

A grin dashed across the renowned Marshal's face as he nodded again and Gupta cautiously used his gift to draw the ghost in.

And not a moment too soon as it seemed that the others in charge of the other three were bored at seeing 012 attempt to take them on his own and began issuing orders to the trio.

Gupta was glad of the old soldier's assistance within moments as they now needed to not only dodge the eldest boys attacks but had to deal with their clothing restricting them and choking them and childish flying bees, dogs and a tiger. Mathias and Tino tried to reason with their old friends to no avail but having little choice, they were now all using their own gifts and, even worse than having to fight old friends, they now were doing it exhausted preventing any distance attacks. Roderich using Tai chi movements to dodge and mess with the inner ear of anyone in close quarters with them, Tino attacking Hanya's paper creations causing them to disintegrate, Mathias trying to slam 012 into the ground by increasing his weight (sadly wasn't working too well) Berwald tried zapping anyone who got too close and Gupta/Louis were dancing around their opponents, landing hits and the getting out of range. Feliks and Hanya largely stayed out of range which was frustrating but overall, they were holding their own.

"Are you Pokémon or something?" Gupta shouted tauntingly, after noticing that they were only moving and attacking as directed. It was rather unlike him but a favourite strategy of Sadiq's, hoping that the insult it would cause them to slip for a second and make a mistake. After all, two long distance fighters was no joke when they didn't have anyone capable of the same on their end. "Capable of only doing what they tell you to? Are you so broken to the bridle?"

"048" Came an annoyed order. "Kill him."

Oh. That was not good. Perhaps he would leave the taunting to Sadiq next time as he managed to make the wrong person  _homicidal_. Not what he was going for.

Lets see, Hanya had responded to commands given to 049 and Feliks to 047, the older one was 012 which left Marcello...

Hell.

He looked down as he saw a ghostly hand finishing slowly pushing through his chest, holding his heart. Time seemed to slow as Berwald had been beside him and without missing a beat, gathered an enormous charge and slammed it into the ground; zapping pretty much anyone in the vicinity with rubber soles into unconsciousness. Roderich  _screamed_ , sending 012 flying into a cop car and causing all nearby to clasp their ears in agony and Mathias dashed forward until he was close enough to slam the other two into the ground by increasing their weight until they couldn't move at all.

Gupta felt himself sink to his knees and felt a little floaty and got a little double vision as he stared at his  _heart_. He then realized that with Marcello intangible, no one could touch him

He didn't like that. He had made his peace with dying before their mission started but he refused to let any of the others die with him. Not if he could help it. Then, in an instinctive move he couldn't explain even if he tried, he did grab the boy's arm and pushed his heart back into place. He then allowed his body to collapse and attacked the boy before his handler could issue any command.

He heard the cops and security guards watching curse, horrified by what they were seeing, at the death match between children, especially as there was no way they had avoided hearing anything said. He wondered distantly if they knew that if they lost this night that it was unlikely that they would live; that the Organization would kill them for witnessing what they had. He hoped the girl he had spotted earlier along with anyone else watching in the tall apartments were also careful.

Being a ghost though somewhat distanced you from worldly problems so what before had been urgent was no longer but on the other hand, it seemed to have really awoken his power. While he knocked the boy out, his other hand flung out and, judging by the increase in religious curses and prayers, those that before had simply been watching were now visible and willing to help.

* * *

Feli looked around from above, delighted with his handwork thus far. There were now illusionary barricades about three meters high on every major road and on any road leading out of the city. He could see statues moving cars and dumpsters and the like into position, adding real elements to his illusionary ones. He had yet to see Aadya or Ludwig again, but it was really only a matter of time as hundred of metal statues from monuments around the city and the one of Napoléon had taken control of the barricade on Boulevard St-Michel. There were dinosaur skeletons now roaming the streets along with even more manikins displaying the latest fashions and period clothing.

Feli guessed that they were presently infiltrating a natural history museum as he was now starting to see taxidermy animals start to man various barricades and prowling around streets. It had been when he had been creating the entire cast of  _Les Misérables_ to man the one near the Opéra that he had two happy surprises. The first was seeing Georgi and Týr add to their present efforts, making their barricades a combination of real and illusion and also of ice and earth. The second was when Yao and his family's honorary aunt and uncle, Thai and Viet snuck up on and announced that they would be joining in their rebellion in protest.

* * *

A few hours later, Týr was going back over the waterways to ensure they remained frozen. Though as he went, he was startled to notice a body swimming unnaturally fast under the water, the man didn't have scuba gear or anything on but had been under for at least a minute now.

Pausing, he thought for a moment before slowly traced out letters on the top of the water. After all, Kiku and Tino had been teaching him how to read and write over the past few days and he knew most letters now, this would be good practice and likely their only chance to talk.

At first the man didn't notice and kept going so Týr went ahead to the next bridge and unfroze a section on the surface and then froze the water in the shadow of it about a metre down and created a thin stick of ice to poke him with as he paused at the obstacle.

 _Who you?_ He wrote backwards on the water and was pleased as the other bobbed up to the surface and Týr saw that his eyes were wide and fish like, he had gills and webbed fingers. Though it was strange, the man was much older than eighteen and shouldn't have been impacted by the experiments but was clearly a  _freak_  like Týr. That or mermaids were not so fictional but Týr was pretty sure that that wasn't the case.

"Antonio." The man whispered after a moment, clearly confused when he didn't see anyone.

Týr grinned and carefully created thin letters of ice in the air.

_Am Tyr, maker of yce. No here, hyde so no fynd._

"You're doing this?" The other repeated, sounding impressed. "Why?"

Týr frowned, that was trickier. Not only was he restricted by the letters he knew but by his exhausted powers. _Fyrst me took. Eskape. Now_   _Famyly took. Bad took. Need bak fyne._

"Your family was kidnapped?" The man whispered slowly, as though being sure he understood.

_War untyl bak. No hurt agayn._

"Tir..." He appeared lost in thought for a moment before jolting saying, "Týr? Týr Liefson of Iceland? Did you disappear five years ago?"

Týr hesitated a moment. How did the man know that? Was that actually even his full name or where he was from or how long it had been? His 'trainer' had been very good at taking everything that his bosses didn't want from him and he was only really sure of his first name... Should he answer? Was he somehow in cahoots with the Organization? But in the end curiosity won out.  _Yes?_

"I think I know where your family is."

* * *

**Song for this Chapter: Beds are Burning - Midnight Oil**

**In case for the curious, the letters Týr hasn't managed to learn yet/got the hang of are: c, g, i, j, p, q, v, x, z and any letters with accents, such as his own. Illiteracy is a hard thing and a source of shame for many of those who are; in a part I couldn't figure out how to include shows him struggling to learn. Also, in Icelandic (from minimal research, I do not speak Icelandic so take with grain of salt) typically y and i are pronounced the same as are ý and í so when he hears the 'i' sound, automatically thinks of 'y'.**


	17. Chapter 17

**AN –** **I think there might only be about 3 or 4 chapters left, wow! Kinda excited to finish this one up**

**I own nothing but my plot**

* * *

_Be Young and Shut Up._

* * *

_Blink._

He was now in a barely lit room with a concrete ceiling and a splitting headache.

 _Blink_.

So that had maybe not been the best idea.

 _B~link_.

Yep. Definitely not the brightest idea he'd had. Moving his eyelids should not be this hard or nausea inducing.

 _Blink_.

'You okay?' Oh the floating  _bunny_  was back. And it could  _talk_. Joy.

 _Blink_.

Oh, and now the fucking green rabbit had brought a friend with him. The more the merrier, it was helpful to have an indicator that he was going _insane._

*UNICORN has joined the party. Of European/Asian origin. UNICORNS are typically slender white horses with a long spiralled horn on its forehead. European UNICORNS are wild and untamable (save by a virgin of the opposite gender as attracted to purity) while Oriental UNICORNS are portrayed as a more peaceful, meek and luck-bringing goat-like creature. Its horn is either pearly white or white at the base, black in the middle and red at the very top and it is though that the horn can detect and remove poison, disease and even resurrect the dead.

 _Blink_.

...What the hell had they given him this time?

He slowly breathed out, let the air hiss through his teeth as he tried to slowly move before giving it up as a Bad Idea when the world spun and he felt absolutely green.

"Arthur?"

This sucked.

"Arthur? Are you alright?"

Oh. Someone was talking to him. Not his hallucinations though. Someone. A person. A human being. A Homo sapiens. A Homo sapiens sapiens? A Homo Superior? Fuck if he knew, hadn't been to school since he was ten.

"Arthur?"

Right. Person. People.

He slowly opened his mouth, testing the movement and willing his tongue to work but it was hard and not cooperating and instead a low groan came out instead.

"...I'll take that as a no."

 _Blink_.

Hey! There was people above him! She had her pretty copper blonde hair in a bob cut with a red ribbon that had seen better days keeping it out of her pretty green eyes...

He knew the people!

People!

He let a happy grin stretch across his face as he recognized her and tried futilely to get his tongue (which felt swollen and heavy in his mouth) to cooperate.

Bel!

It was Bel!

"Wow, they got you on the good stuff don't they? Your pupils are  _blown_."

 _Were they?_  He tried to bring a hand up as if to check but was distracted when the other hand was pulled along.  _His hands were tied_?

He, slowly as still not good to move his head, brought them up to eye level as if to exam the heavy metal cuffs on his wrists and the sort of iron glove that encased each hand so he couldn't move his fingers.  _Why_?

"Man, I haven't seen you pout like that since you were a tiny midget." Right! Bel! Bel was here!...Bel was snarking at him? Why was she doing that? He had  _mourned_ her and  _looked_ for her and  _why_  was she being  _mean_ to him when it  _hurt_  to  _think?_

Of course, none of that came out of his mouth. Instead, he tried to swipe at her laughing face with his hands and gave a high whine of complaint which was immediately followed by a groan when the nausea surged again. Resigning himself to immobility for the near future, he stilled and tried to push past the mental fog to try to think clearly.

This sucked.

Why was he like this again?

He had been fighting...He had been fighting a terrifying big breasted lady who could move iron and he had managed to win (barely he admitted privately) then... he had gotten mad. Mad. Assholes had been watching... Watching like they were sport, like they were nothing, like they were to be made to jump to at command.

He had challenged them.

Right. He had broken Rule Eleven: keep your head down and your nose clean. Granted that rule was for Peter to stay safe and from getting pulled in to the more criminal aspects of running the gang so he could eventually become a part of normal society, live long and be happy. (That was, after all, Arthur's only ambition and goal in life – that his brother have a normal life and be happy and safe)

But he still had broken the meaning behind the rule, the principle of the thing.

He had challenged the people who had his life in their hands for no purpose but to anger them. That was not being safe or careful but being reckless because they had hurt his pride and made him play by their rules. They had him well and truly pinned, Arthur had known that before, had had it driven home when they were captured, when they were enchained, when he had been made to fight and again when they had flooded the room with gas after his victory.

It was in times like these that he felt that he wasn't a very good big brother.

Ugh.

He had to stay alive to get back to the little idiot. How many days had passed? Was it the pipsqueak's birthday yet? Had he missed it? He better not have.

With that cheery thought, he drifted for a bit.

When he woke again, the fog had lifted somewhat and the nausea had retreated, allowing him to slowly sit up and look around.

"Ah. You're awake again are you?" Bel asked cheerfully, coming over. She didn't have any cuffs on though, like him, she had an electric collar (he guessed she had also continued to use her power at first) and the standard anklet.

Like the first cell he'd woken up in with the others, there was a section partitioned off from the rest of the cell though there was only two people on that side. Like Steven and the others had been, they appeared heavily sedated and were bound by heavy looking chains; the eleven year old olive skinned girl was slumped up against the scrawny dark skinned sixteen year boy. Tearing his eyes away (or else he'd start to  _pity_ them and getting out of here would be even harder), he examined the rest of the cell. It was the same as the previous two had been and besides Bel, there was Youssef looking a lot rougher then the last time he'd seen him with a definitely broken arm and another boy of about seventeen...Arthur felt the hair on the back of his neck raise just looking at him.

He didn't have a shirt and his pants were little more than rags and all of his exposed skin was covered in hundreds of scars. Thick ropy scars, whip thin scars, round bullet impacts and jagged ones from where skin had torn created a spider web stretching all across his pale skin. His pale hair fell in front of his eyes, eyes which were tracking every one of his motions and observations.

"Yousseff, Ivan, this is Arthur from Lars and my stories." Bel calmly introduced, "Arthur, Yousseff of Algeria and Ivan of Russia. The pair on the other side of the field are Rimas of Jordan and Babalo of South Africa."

"Charmed I'm sure." Arthur said dryly, giving a small wave. "Wish it had been under better circumstances."

Youssef nodded and quietly thanked him for his earlier suggestions about his fields as he was now to exercise a bit more control over the stupid things and had managed to defend himself in the fight he'd been put in. Arthur remembered at the last minute about the gloves so instead of the friendly shoulder clasp he'd been going for, he instead nudged the other boy and gave a small smile in return. He remembered when his ability first manifested and how  _relieved_  he'd been when he first gained that smallest bit of control, he was sure that despite their terrible situation that the Youssef was probably walking on air internally.

After all, by gaining back complete control over their bodies, they were that much closer to their old lives and selves again. To being normal.

"...You have seen my sister lately?" Ivan asked abruptly, sounding curious though also a little menacing, dragging Arthur from his thoughts. Arthur should try to copy that tone, it could come handy in the future and...he was still a little drugged. Focus.

"Possibly?" He answered, the slurred syllables falling slowly off his heavy tongue. "Wha's her name."

"Katyusha, number 004. She is strong, can control iron."

"Yes, I remember her." Yeah, he wouldn't be forgetting her anytime soon. Should he be reassuring? ...How does one be reassuring in a situation like this? "She appeared to be...well. She's, er, really strong. They set me up against her in a fight."

A childish grin stole the boy's features, softening the menacing aura his appearance created. "She is okay? She is alive?"

"Last I saw her she was." Arthur answered as gently as he knew how before sneering "For our fight they didn't authorize lethal force so while she was trying to, er, well maim me, I was just hoping to knock her out. After about an hour managed to fight her to a stand still and got a drop on her so unless something happened after she's fine...a bit concussed maybe?"

That was probably actually not reassuring.

Oh well. Wasn't his fault: he was emotionally stunted to start with and was now also drugged and tired. He'd tried.

"Excellent." Ivan surprisingly answered before crossing the room in two big strides. Arthur squeaked as he was picked up in a bear hug, his vision swimming as his drug addled brain attempted to understand the movement. "This is great news!"

Oh so he wasn't the only emotionally stunted one; he couldn't imagine any other reason the other boy was so relieved to hear that he'd been in a fight with a sibling and proceeded to knock her out.

But he wasn't complaining. Nope. He was a-okay and completely down with being manhandled as even the damn unicorn and bunny agreed that if that made the scarred giant happy and not let's-hurt-Arthur-for-hurting-sister, bear hugs were good.

* * *

"Gupta?" Mathias whispered, as though speaking any louder would dispel the illusion, reaching a hand up before drawing it back slightly. "Wh- _How?_ "

Gupta cocked his head and reached out a hand of his own and was only slightly surprised when it passed right through Mathias's. Weird.

"I...am not certain." He answered, his voice echoing slightly as though he were in a tunnel. "It is very strange."

"Surprisingly, this is it. This is the line, everything is now a bit too weird for me..." Roderich sighed, too exhausted to react more than that and more or less collapsed on the spot; though he still kept an eye at where their ghostly allies were now keeping their enemies at bay.

"Gupta, are you...dead?" Tino asked tentatively.

"Possibly?" Gupta answered after a moment of reflection. "I don't know."

"How can you not  _know_?" Mathias yelped, clearly freaked out. "Can't you feel your body or something like Heracles when he does his strange astral thing?"

"No." Gupta bluntly replied. "I can't feel anything."

"We're going to have to keep him far away from Al if he's stuck like this." Tino observed, wide-eyed.

Roderich spoke up, "Hate to break this up but they've gotten back up and are moving past Gupta's friends. We can figure this out later, right now we need a plan and we need to move!"

Berwald stooped and gently picked up Gupta's body while the others got back in defensive postures.

"Suggestions?" Mathias quietly asked.

"Knock them down and/or out, kill if need be then head for the gap on your 10 o'clock." Tino answered emotionlessly. "If we get past them, we should be able to lose them in the back streets and meet up with Ludwig and the others near l'Arc de Triomphe."

"Sounds good." Roderich hissed irritably, "I have nothing better to suggest. Let's just get out of here before someone else ends up mostly-dead or just all dead."

Then they were fighting again.

They were much more evenly matched this time; despite their orders coming in, none were responding as quickly. Feliks having a clearly broken right arm and Hanya was slightly disoriented and likely concussed. 012 wasn't faring much better and was favouring his left side, his ribs cracked or broken and had a broken right foot. Marcello was the only one uninjured but no longer had an advantage as Gupta could engage him whenever he went intangible.

Yes they were still exhausted and injured themselves, but they had a second wind due to what happened to Gupta and the reminder of how they were fighting for their lives in both a figurative and literal sense. As if they survived but were captured they would be dead in all but fact, their freedom and, it appeared, their sense of self and humanity would be stripped from them if they lost. That gave them the slightest edge over their opponents.

It got even better when Mathias managed to get close enough to the barricade to where the ghosts were keeping most everybody pinned and managed to send two of the handlers crashing to the ground by suddenly increasing the weight of their heads by one hundred times. With no small sense of satisfaction, he smirked as he heard the one smash his head through the hood of one of the cars and the other dropped so suddenly that her head created a small crater.

Now without orders, it was surprisingly easy to knock out Feliks and Marcello and 012 appeared to be hesitating now. Noticing that, his panicking handler (likely in desperation) actually called him by his name 'Aneiren' instead of as a number to get him to respond to commands.

As Roderich and Gupta closed in on Hanya to knock her out similarly, she quickly removed and unfolded a drawing of a forest with a red-headed teen in a blue uniform smoking idly against a tree. To their surprise, the teen began to quickly move and get closer to the 'frame' and then suddenly, there he was before them, hunched protectively in front of her. Before they could react, orders came for 012 to collect those fallen and for 027 to return them to base.

Then they were gone into the picture and soon nothing but childish trees were visible on the paper.

Deciding not to look a gift horse in the mouth, Roderich and the others began to make their own escape though that was soon punctuated by shouts and gun shots as they disappeared into the dark streets.

* * *

Gilbert was shoved back into the cell with little fanfare, in pain which was sadly becoming the norm of late. He was somewhat lucky even as it was decided by the higher ups that his ability was useful and he should be made a weapon for them to control. He had heard about others from those who still were 'human', had heard from  _Yao_  that there were those who were decided to be expendable and were made to run courses and experimented on.

Originally it just been those with physical mutations who couldn't blend and had been caught first and were 'useless' but now, well, apparently skills like opening portals to pocket dimensions weren't quite  _useful_  enough. Luckily enough, the Asian was brought back to their cell after each time and Erik is able to repair the worst damage.

In fact, come to think of it, that might be  _why_  they're brought back, damaged as they are.

Today he had got off easy, he had been made to 'train' with his fucking sadist of a 'handler' and only had electric burns on his left arm from mistakes and for "not being quick enough". So there were those and his injuries from the last week: a mostly healed broken arm, sprained wrist and '092' brand on his collarbone. Beyond that he was...fine.

 _Yeah,_  he thought with a bitter chuckle,  _he was fine._. _._ _ **F**_ _reaked out,_ _ **I**_ _nsecure,_ _ **N**_ _eurotic and_ _ **E**_ _motional. And so completely over his head, he could no longer tell which way to swim to surface and draw air._

Once the guards dragged off Antonio and Francis and slammed the door, Gilbert slowly dragged himself upright and made his way to where Yao, Erik and Miguel were. After a few more days of being a smart ass, Gilbert had been outfitted with a shock collar, same as Arthur had been and that Yao also wore. Though in his case, it wasn't to prevent ability use but rather if he started to run his mouth, he would be rendered unconscious in seconds. He had been very disappointed to discover that the electronics were too simple for him to manipulate and be of any use and had anti-tampering measures.

Elizabeta and Steven were still heavily sedated (Gil was getting a bit concerned considering they were heavy sedatives and what could the possible side effects be for long term use) and had thankfully not been taken for experiments or training and were now the only two still on the other side of the field. They still hadn't seen Mei Mei since the first day or Arthur since the fifth, Nicolai had been dragged out three days before and had yet to be returned, Yong Soo had been taken the day after with a small wave and a cheerful "See you later" and Lovino had been taken the same time as Gilbert had been today and wasn't back yet either.

Leaning up against the wall, he gave the other three a strained smile and a quiet reassurance that he wasn't badly injured. They didn't talk much any more, didn't have much to talk about (not that Erik had been one for words before anyway) and instead just, well, clung to each other as much as they could. Erik gave a cursory look over his injuries but as he was still healing from the day before when he'd been brought back to the cell barely breathing, he didn't do much except make sure they were clear of infection.

It had only been about two weeks since their capture and already they were more than a little broken, both mentally and physically. They had been branded like cattle, been experimented on, been pushed to their limits and tortured... Gil would be surprised if Yao ever regained full motion in his left hand or if Erik ever managed to sleep through the night again without experiencing night terrors of what the idiots here tried to pass off as 'science'. And Miguel, fuck. Miguel had been blinded so badly that Erik's ability could only restore the nerves and receptors so he could see light but that was it. He had adapted pretty well and his ability had with him allowing him to 'see' still in a rather unorthodox manner: from whispered explanations,Gilbert thought it similar to echolocation. As plants could be found pretty much anywhere and even dead plants that were used as building material, cloth and other such things, Miguel used the 'signal' that they gave off to mentally create an image of where he was. Of course he was pretended to be as helpless as he could so they'd leave him alone but it was a dangerous line to walk as he couldn't be too weak else he'd be labelled expendable and sent to the labs.

They needed to get out and soon, after all the shit they had been through in their lives, there was only so much pain (mental and physical) they could take before they succumbed and broke, allowing those in control to mold them into whatever they wanted. Until they were like those they had fought against in tests, until they became like 027, 029 and 037 and were weapons to be directed at will. Until there was nothing left of them and were completely stripped of any humanity they had.

Or dead. That was also always a possibility.

* * *

They dejectedly crossed more buildings off their list, still nothing.

Nothing.

With each failure they got more worn down. What if they had been too late and their family had been smuggled out of the city already? What if they had missed a building in their research? A crucial point? What if they were completely wrong about how they were hiding and were camouflaged another way?

However, they all did their utmost to ignore those thoughts as they could only make them sloppy and slower, they could despair if and once those fears were proven true.

Matthew ran his thumb over the keychain in his pocket while savouring the winds blowing around them for a moment, a sign of Al's continued safety; all he needed now was some sign that Miguel was still alive. That or a sign pointing to where he'd been spirited away to so he could raze it to the ground and burn the ashes.

He looked over to Michelle and Sadiq who looked more disappointed than the rest of them and resisted the urge to offer comfort. They were frustrated he knew as their abilities hadn't been any assistance so far.

Sadiq's gift could be helpful if he picked up the right thing but so far they hadn't learned anything of use though they had a bit of blackmail on a number of people if that was ever needed. Michelle, they weren't entirely sure why her ability wasn't working as, as far as they could tell, her ability told her where and when to go to find whatever it was she desired. Perhaps she was too far away for her ability's present range or she wasn't specific/general enough in what she wanted. The first time she'd tried and it hadn't worked, they had tried to reassure her that she'd just come into her gift and each ability had it's kinks and rules you had to discover and learn but it quickly became clear she didn't want sympathy so they let her be. Judging by her expression right now, it wasn't working still.

With a mental sigh, he turned his attention back to the map. The next building on their list was a large one so after a moment, they agreed to examine it together.

Sadiq, Kaoru and Matthew went to investigate the East half of the building while Kiku, Jackson and Michelle went to look after the West half.

It was quiet, the rooms all dark lit only by their flashlights and they systematically worked their way down from the top floor. As before, nothing was found on the fifth or fourth floor and was routine (or what was becoming routine) though on third that changed for two reasons.

One being that Sadiq's gift told him that an innocent looking health and safety document had once been at the facility where their family was being kept (curiously enough, the building passed the inspection, Sadiq hated corruption) and the second being was that he was no longer alone. Kaoru had been examining the vents and the like as a gas, looking for any oddities or inconsistencies that might lead to a secret passage and Matthew was invisible in another room.

Sadiq had the misfortune of being visible at the time and so was the target for a flying kick to the head that sent him crashing through a desk and into a nearby wall. Though it was also a spot of luck as that was how he found the inspection forms...

Regardless it hurt and he was quickly surrounded by about eleven short identical ten year old boys with sandy blonde hair and empty blue eyes. However, Sadiq had always protected Heracles and Gupta when they were in Nice then when they were in Paris from any and all comers and had a rather impressive brawler's resume for a thirteen year old so in very little time he managed to knock most of them down and get back on his feet.  
However, it was just his luck that the boy duplicated himself until there were now twenty of them crammed into the small room with him. Sadiq gulped, regardless of skill, 20:1 odds were not good and he was nothing if not practical. Well, if he could stay conscious and/or alive for a minute or so, he would get reinforcements as Matthew and Kaoru had certainly heard the crash and he would be surprised if Kiku, Michelle and Jackson hadn't.

Though the boy and his copies certainly weren't giving any quarter, their attacks held a certain wildness to them; he would be surprised if the boy wasn't a little feral or crazy just based off that. Reason being is that in a fight, the one attacking doesn't tend to use teeth, that's usually reserved for a desperate person backed into a corner but as he fought, he had to give ground to avoid being bit or scratched. He had managed to get a blow in on the real one and broken his wrist but the kid didn't even pause and soon he had lost him among his duplicates.

Christ, what had been done to this kid?

It was him pausing at this though that had him kicked out the window so perhaps he would have to rethink pitying the enemy until they were certainly unconscious.

He was lucky that Kaoru managed to catch him and could partially sublimate another person in order to get them both safely to the ground.

Though as they both staggered to their feet, they quickly saw Jackson (or who they thought was Jackson), Michelle and Kiku running from a tan skinned boy with black hair and a veritable pack of wolves interspaced with one or two wild boar.

* * *

Too distraught to scream, Francis let angry tears slide down his face and thrashed in his bonds as Antonio seized repeatedly and howled in agony before the violent motions turned into minute twitches and whimpers and then into complete stillness.

He was too still.

The sadist beside him just took a pen out of his too-clean labcoat and made a few notes on his clipboard before calling out for someone to come take the failure away for disposal. Almost immediately, two men then came in and removed the bindings before unceremoniously dumping his friend in a body bag and hauled it out of the room.

This couldn't be.

Not Toni.

Happy Antonio who'd stuck by him through thick and thin, who'd joined him on this mad quest and who'd helped protect his niece.

A good man like that should not die in such a manner.

He bared his teeth in fury and snarled, fists clenching and unclenching, nearly out of his mind in pain and grief. He would NOT allow this, they would suffer for what they did. This would not be borne.

Pain coursed through his body, a low burning fire licked along his veins but that did not matter. They had hurt his best friend, they had  _killed_  his best friend; they would die (they would  _scream_ ) in turn. When his fist clenched, this time, he could  _feel_  something else clench and bend with the movement. So he did it again before splaying his fingers and was rewarded when the heavy metal cuffs tore themselves from the table and embedded themselves in the wall.

There was a moment where everyone in the room froze, staring at him without realizing he was free and he used that to his advantage, polarizing all the metal in the room and sending it where he wished. That moment was all he needed to avenge his friend, to send needles through their hearts, improvised shrapnel through their brains and scalpels through their necks.

Now to do the same to everyone else in the facility and free those kids. Ignoring the trail of blood he left behind him, Francis got off the table and, with an angry gesture, sent the door flying into the work station.

He would not be too late this time.

* * *

**Song for this Chapter is Sail by Awolnation.**

**Any guesses as to what the numbers mean?**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Full list of Characters so far Cheat Sheet:
> 
> Ran away because of parent's death 2 Years on streets  
> Feliciano (N Italy)- Can make images appear with words  
> Lovnio (S Italy)- Record (able to learn after seeing or hearing once)
> 
> Dad died and were going to be deported back to Germany, family-less. 7 years on streets  
> Gilbert (Prussia)- Technopathy (manipulate technology, even allow mental interface)  
> Ludwig (Germany)- Animation  
> Roderich (Austria)- Sonic scream/sound manipulation  
> Berwald (Sweden)- Electric manipulation
> 
> Kicked out of her religious house 3 years on streets  
> Elizabeta (Hungary)- Transmutation
> 
> Parents in debt, were going sell them 9 years on streets  
> Matt (Canada)- Light manipulation  
> Al (America)- Air manipulation  
> Miguel (Cuba)- Wood/plant manipulation
> 
> Private Investigators looking into case. No prologue  
> Francis (France) – Magnetism  
> Antonio (Spain)- Gills, swim speedily (no water resistance), enhanced senses, endure high water pressure and extreme water temperatures  
> Michelle (Seychelles)- Pathfinding (able to track anything [though need specific], though tracks gone)
> 
> Parents were prostitutes and were kicked out of whore house as soon as could 3 years on streets  
> Heracles (Greece)- Astral Projection  
> Gupta (Egypt)- Medium (able to sense dead)  
> Sadiq (Turkey)- Psychometry (relate past or future of object by being in contact)
> 
> Abandoned and banded together before meeting others no time since prologue  
> Yong Soo (S Korea)- Super speed  
> Kiku (Japan)- Telepath  
> Yao (China)- Portals / store (dimension pockets)  
> Mei Mei (Taiwan)- Poison generation  
> Kaoru (Hong Kong)- Sublimation (able to turn into gas)  
> Viet and Thai- Powerless but runs restaurant together (married)
> 
> International university student, saw the broadcast and feared the worst. No time since prologue  
> Aadya (India) – Mirrors
> 
> Ran Away because of parent's abuse 5 years on streets  
> Arthur (England)- telekinesis  
> Peter (Sealand)- Power negation/enhancement
> 
> Parent/Family found out about power kicked them out 4 months on streets  
> Tino (Finland)- Disintegration (organic only through touch, wears gloves)  
> Erik (Norway)- Heal
> 
> Abandoned or Ran Away no time since prologue  
> Necolai (Romania)- Precognition mostly in dreams, walks in dreams  
> Georgi (Bulgaria)- Earth manipulation  
> Mathias (Denmark)- Mass control  
> Steven (Australia)- animal mimicry  
> Jackson (New Zealand)- shapeshifter
> 
> Not sure of origins but managed to escape Organization but somewhat unstable no time since prologue  
> Týr (Iceland)- Cold Manipulation 010
> 
> Captured and under control of Organization no time since prologue  
> Katyusha (Ukraine)- Iron Manipulation 004  
> Feliks (Poland) - Fabric manipulation 047  
> Aneiren (Wales) - Super strength 012  
> Hanya (Wy) – Paintings come to life 049  
> Marcello (Seborga)- Phasing/Intangibility 048  
> Raivis (Latvia) – Duplication 029  
> Santiago (m) (Mexico) – animal control/communication 017  
> Bruce (Scotland)- can walk between/into photographs and paintings 027  
> Kathleen (Northern Ireland) – Weather manipulation 080  
> Dani (f) (Honduras) – Camouflage (blends into background) 063  
> Youssef (m) (Algeria) – Force fields 064  
> Ivan (Russia) ? 005  
> Rimas (f) (Jordan) ? 044  
> Babalo (f) (South Africa) ? 046
> 
> Guardian was a druggie, had had enough. Captured ^ 6 years on streets  
> Lars (Netherlands)- Power mimicry  
> Bel (Belgium)- ?
> 
> Parents died, banks foreclosing and shouldered with debt could not pay Captured ^ 6 months on streets  
> Vash (Switzerland)- ?  
> Lily (Liechtenstein)- Turns kinetic energy into blasts 070


	18. Chapter 18

Hey guys,

Sorry for going so long without an update - I was in my final year of uni and have had a lot on my plate between my part-time job, personal things, school readings and essays

In good news AM DONE MY DEGREE NOW! (WAHOOOOO) which means I finally have time to work on these

On the other hand, am still working parttime and am job hunting which means I don't have as much time as I would like.

Anyway, I hope to be updating this story by the first week of June at the latest so thank you for sticking around - THIS STORY WILL BE FINISHED, IT IS JUST A MATTER OF WHEN :P

Thanks ladies, gents and distinguished others :D

ehcanuck


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